Protea neriifolia

Protea neriifolia, the narrow-leaved sugarbush or in Afrikaans the baardsuikerbos (beard sugar bush), is a spreading shrub of 1 m to 3 m in height and 2 m in diameter (SA Tree List No. 93.1).

The leaves resemble those of the oleander, Nerium oleander. This feature was captured in the plant’s specific name, neriifolia. The baardsuikerbos name is shared with P. magnifica and possibly with some others among the bearded flowerhead Protea species, those with dense hair tufts on inner involucral bract tips. While the conspicuous hairs brought the beard reference, sugarbush comes from the copious supply of nectar produced in the flowerheads. The syrupy enticement is a most effective value proposition in Protea pollination bartering with insects, birds and some others.

The species distribution is in the southwest of the Western Cape, from the Hottentots Holland Mountains eastwards to the southwest of the Eastern Cape, about as far as Gqeberha.

The habitat is fynbos slopes and flats on clay and sandstone derived, often gravelly soil. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Manning, 2007; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Rebelo, 1995; Rourke, 1980; iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).