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Protea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the plant genus. For further uses see Protea (disambiguation).
- "Sugarbush" redirects here. For the ski resort, see Sugarbush Resort
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 Protea lepidocarpodendron x neriifolia
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Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes.
The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carolus Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus who could change his form at will, because proteas have such different forms.
Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the Cape (South Africa) in the 1600s. Many species were introduced to Europe in the 1700s, enjoying a unique popularlity at the time amongst botanists.
The Proteaceae family to which Proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwanaland, 300 million years ago. Proteaceae is divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwanaland that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with Madagascar, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera — this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.
In Africa no member of the Protea genus occurs further north than the Limpopo River. 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape Flora is thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species.
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Within the large family Proteaceae, they are a member of the subfamily Proteoideae, which has Southern African and Australian members.
(listed by section: a section has a name in two parts, consisting of the genus name and an epithet).
- Protea section Leiocephalae
- Protea section Paludosae
- Protea section Patentiflorae
- Protea section Lasiocephalae
- Protea section Cristatae
- Protea section Cynaroidae
- Protea cynaroides (King Protea)
- Protea section Paracynaroides
- Protea section Ligulatae
- Protea section Melliferae
- Protea aristata
- Protea lanceolata
- Protea repens (Common Sugarbush Protea)
- Protea section Speciosae
- Protea section Exsertae
- Protea section Microgeantae
- Protea section Crinitae
- Protea section Pinifolia
- Protea section Craterifolia
- Protea section Obvallatae
- Protea section Subacaules
Together with the Springbok Antelope, the Protea had been treated as a sometimes controversial national symbol in South Africa, both during and after apartheid.
The former South African Prime Minister and architect of apartheid, Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, had a dream to change the then-current Flag of South Africa and have in its center a leaping Springbok Antelope over a wreath of six Proteas. This proposal, however, aroused too much controversy and was never implemented.
After the demise of apartheid, the ANC government decreed that South African sporting teams, hitherto called "Springboks" were to be known as "The Proteas", although an exemption was made for the rugby union team, who remain "Springboks".
- Protea Atlas Project: a project to map the distribution of South African plant species, using Protea as a flagship.
- NCBI Taxonomy Browser