Protea magnifica

Protea magnifica, the queen protea and in Afrikaans the baardsuikerbos (beard sugarbush), is a variable shrub growing rounded, sprawling or erect to heights of about 1,5 m. Occasionally, when spared from fire, trees of 3,5 m tall may be seen (SA Tree List No. 86.1). The plant grows a single, stout, main stem and does not resprout after fire. The young stems tend to be hairy.

A discarded name of the plant, P. barbigera meaning bearded protea, provides an apt description of the hairiness found at the tips of the involucral bracts and unopened floret tips of the flowerheads.

P. magnifica is distributed in the Western Cape from the Kogelberg northwards as far as the Cederberg and eastwards along the Langeberg and the Swartberg ranges to the western parts of the Little Karoo; mostly at elevations above 1200 m.

The habitat is rocky outcrops in moist fynbos. Cold winters, even snow, but also hot summers characterise this habitat. Large colonies of this plant may occur in montane fynbos. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Rebelo, 1995; Rourke, 1980; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).