Protea lacticolor

Protea lacticolor, commonly known as the Hottentot sugarbush, and in Afrikaans as the witsuikerbos (white sugarbush), is a single-stemmed, erect shrub of about 2 m in height, sometimes a small tree of up to 6 m (SA Tree List No. 90). The bark of the robust plant is smooth and grey, young stems covered in downy hairs but hairless when mature. The stem reaches a diameter from 8 cm to 30 cm.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape, from Bain’s Kloof to the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The photo was taken north of Caledon.

The habitat is upper slope rocky and moist places, often along streambanks, in mountainous areas of shale and sandstone soil. The plants are mostly found at elevations from 1000 m to 1500 m, occasionally as low as 600 m. When spared from fire the plants may form impressive, impenetrable stands. The habitat population is deemed vulnerable early in the twenty first century, due to habitat loss from human development activities and alien vegetation invasion (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Rebelo, 1995; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Rourke, 1980; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).