Mimetes splendidus

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Mimetes splendidus
Mimetes splendidus 1DS-II 1-8139.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Mimetes
Species:
M. splendidus
Binomial name
Mimetes splendidus
Synonyms
  • Mimetes hibbertii, Protea hibbertii
  • Mimetes integrus
  • Mimetes mundii

Mimetes splendidus or splendid pagoda is an evergreen, rather sparsely branching, upright shrub of up to 2½ m (8 ft) high from the family Proteaceae. It has broadly lance-shaped to oval, silvery-hairy leaves with three or four teeth crowded at the tip. It has cylinder-shaped inflorescences that consists of many heads, each containing eleven to thirteen flowers, in the axils of the highest leaves. These leaves form a hood over a lower flowerhead and are flushed orangy pink. It flowers during winter, from early May to September. It is an endemic species that is restricted to the south face of the coastal mountains of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Contents

Description

Mimetes splendidus is an evergreen, rather sparsely branching, upright shrub of up to 2½ m (8 ft) high, which develops from a single trunk of up to 6 cm (2½ in) thick that is covered by a thin, grey bark with a smooth surface except for the horizontal striping. In older specimens, the lower stems have lost their leaves. Young branches are stiffly upright, seldom branching, silky hairy and 6–10 mm (0.24–0.40 in) thick, later tilting over. The leaves are set alternately along the branches, at an upward angle and overlapping. They lack both stipules and leaf stalks, are broadly lance-shaped or elliptic, 4–5½ cm (1.6–2.2 in) long and 1¼–2½ cm (½–1 in) wide, are silvery in colour due to a dense covering of silky hairs, with more or less pointy tips, often with three or four reddish or amber-coloured, thickened teeth closely cropped. [2]

The inflorescence is broadly cylinder-shaped, 8–12 cm (3¼–4¾ in) long and 6–8 cm (2⅓–3¼ in) in diameter, topped by smallish, more or less flattened, silvery-pink leaves. In the axils of the leaves just below the crest are flower heads each containing ten to fourteen flowers, the subtending leaves with ears at its base, forming a hood over the underlying flower head, that is flushed in a brilliant orangy pink when flowering. The bracts that encircle the flower heads are broadly oval to inverted egg-shaped or tending to rectangular with a blunt tip, a hairless or powdery hairy surface and a fringe of hairs along its margin, papery when dry, warm yellow or amber-coloured when fresh, the margins curving inwards and enveloping the base of the flowers, 1¼–1¾ cm (½–⅔ in) long and ¾–1 cm (0.12–0.24 in) wide, the inner whorl lance-shaped to narrowly lance-shaped, with a sharply pointy tip, 1½–4 cm (⅔–1¾ in) long and ¾–1 cm (0.28–0.40 in) wide. [2]

The bract subtending the individual flower is line-shaped, 12–16 mm (0.48–0.64 in) long, about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide, and densely silky hairy. The 4-merous perianth is 3–3½ cm (1.2–1.4 in) long. The lower part, that remains merged when the flower is open, is slightly inflated, hairless, and about 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long. The segments in the middle part (or claws), are thread-shaped and silky hairy. The segments in the upper part (or limbs), which enclosed the pollen presenter in the bud, are boat-shaped, line-shaped with a pointy tip in outline, 8–10 mm (0.32–0.40 in) long, covered in dense silky hairs, and a tuft of stiff hairs at its tip. From the centre of the perianth emerges the style of 4½–5½ cm (1.8–2.2 in) long, straight and thread-shaped. The thickened part at the tip of the style called pollen presenter is 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, line-shaped with a pointy tip and a thickened ring at the base. The sigmatic groove sits obliquely across the very tip. The egg-shaped ovary is silky hairy and about 1 mm long (0.04 in). It is subtended by four bright orange, fleshy, awl- to line-shaped scales of about 2 mm (0.08 in) long. The fruit is narrowly oval in shape, 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long and 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) in diameter. [2]

The splendid pagoda is one of a group with silvery leaves due to a dense covering of silky hairs, the others being M. arboreus , M. argenteus , M. hottentoticus and M. stokoei . From the other species in this group it can be distinguished by its leaves that almost fully consistently have three or four teeth near their tips. In addition, the involucral bracts that surround the individual flower heads are oblong with a rounded tip, nearly hairless on the outer surface, amber-coloured and thin when fresh (papery and brown in herbarium specimens). [2]

Taxonomy

Richard Anthony Salisbury first described the splendid pagoda in 1809 and called it Mimetes splendidus. He did so in a book that contained an extensive revision of the Proteaceae, titled On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae , published by Joseph Knight. Salisbury however, reputedly had seen the draft of a paper called On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae that Robert Brown was to publish in 1810. Brown called the species M. hibbertii. In 1816, Jean Louis Marie Poiret, who collapsed several Proteaceae genera, reassigned it and called it Protea hibbertii. John Hutchinson, a South African botanist, described a comparable specimen collected by Zeyher, which he called M. integrus In 1912. The herbarium sheet on which it is based, not only contains a branch of the splendid pagoda, but also of the silver pagoda (M. argenteus), and has caused considerable confusion. Finally, Christian Friedrich Ecklon described a further specimen, naming it M. mundii. In 1984, John Patrick Rourke considered all of these specimens representatives of the same species, rendering all other names synonyms of M. splendidus. [2]

Distribution, habitat and ecology

The splendid pagoda is an uncommon species that mostly occurs as single individuals or small groups. It has a rather large distribution, which naturally occurs from the Clock Peaks in the westend of the Langeberg near Swellendam in the west, via the Outeniqua Mountains to Rondebos in the Tsitsikamma National Park in the east, a narrow, 300 km long strip. It is restricted to sloping terrain with a southern or southeastern exposure and a consistently high water availability. It grows on moist, acidulous, peaty soils always above 600 m (2000 ft) and mostly 1000–1200 m (3250–4000 ft) in a dense fynbos vegetation of mostly over 2 m (7 ft) high. Plants usually live for about twenty years. Flowering occurs during winter until September, peaking in May and June. The fruits are usually shed in January and February. [2] As usual for pagodas, the flowers are pollinated by birds. The fruits are gathered by native ants that carry them to their underground nests. Here, the seeds remain dormant until the overhead vegetation is removed by an overhead fire and the seeds germinate in response to increased daily temperature fluctuations and washed-down charcoal chemicals. Adult plants of this species do not survive such fires. [3]

Conservation

The splendid pagoda is considered an endangered species due to its declining population size, its small subpopulation, and its threats of competition by invasive species, afforestation and too frequent fires. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mimetes arboreus</i> Endemic shrub in the family Proteaceae from South Africa

Mimetes arboreus, or Kogelberg pagoda, is an evergreen, upright large shrub or small tree of 2–6 m (6½–20 ft) high in the family Proteaceae. It grows from a thick trunk with a smooth grey bark that branches at ½–1 m (1½–3 ft) above the ground. It has silvery, lance-shaped, pointy leaves of 5–8¼ cm (2.0–3.3 in) long and ¾–3¼ cm (0.3–1.3 in) wide, at an upward angle and overlapping each other. The inflorescences are set just below the top of the branches, are cylinder-shaped, 8–10 cm in diameter, topped by a crest of more or less horizontal pinkish or reddish tinged leaves. It consists of several flower heads in the axils of pinkish orange leaves that form a hood shielding the underlying flower head. Each flower head contains eight to thirteen individual flowers, with bright red styles and grey silky perianth lobes. It is endemic to the Fynbos ecoregion of South Africa, being confined to the Kogelberg mountain range.

<i>Mimetes</i> Genus of shrubs in the family Proteaceae from South Africa

Mimetes, the pagoda, is a genus of evergreen shrubs or small trees 0.5–6 m (1.6–19.7 ft) high, with thirteen species assigned to the family Proteaceae. This genus, as with other proteas, is popular with nectarivorous birds such as the Cape sugarbird and several sunbird species. All species of Mimetes are endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

<i>Mimetes chrysanthus</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from Western Cape province of South Africa

Mimetes chrysanthus is an evergreen, upright shrub of 1½–2 m high that has been assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has green, slightly stalked oval leaves of 3–4½ cm (1.2–1.8 in) long and 1–1¾ cm (0.4–0.7 in) wide. The inflorescences are near the tip of the branches, cylinder-shaped and consist of 50–70 densely cropped flower heads, each in the axil of a green leaf, consisting of 25–35 golden yellow, faintly sweet scented flowers. It is endemic to the Fynbos ecoregion of South Africa and is found in two locations, in the Western Cape province. The flowering season is from March to May or June, but flower heads sometimes occur in any other part of the year.

<i>Mimetes cucullatus</i> Endemic shrub in the family Proteaceae from South Africas Western Cape province

Mimetes cucullatus is an evergreen shrub with several, mostly not branching, upright stems of 1–2 m (3–7 ft) high, that has been assigned to the family Proteaceae. It is the most widespread and most common pagoda species that can cope with a relatively large range of environmental circumstances. It is known under several names including common pagoda in English and rooistompie in Afrikaans.

<i>Mimetes hirtus</i> Species of plant from the family Proteaceae endemic to the southwest Western Cape, South Africa

Mimetes hirtus is an upright, evergreen shrub of 1½–2 m (5–6½ ft) high from the family Proteaceae. It has upright, overlapping, (broadly) lance-shaped leaves, without teeth, but with one thickened pointy tip. It has cylindric inflorescences topped by a pineapple-like tuft of pinkish-brownish, smaller and more or less horizontal leaves. The flowerheads are tightly enclosed by yellow, red-tipped bracts, only the 9–14 long red styles and the whitish silky tips of the perianth sticking out. It is primarily pollinated by the Cape sugarbird. It is an endemic species of the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa, and grows in wet zones at the base of south-facing mountain slopes. Flower heads may be found from May to November, but peaks in July and August. The species has several vernacular names of which marsh pagoda seems to be used most.

<i>Mimetes fimbriifolius</i> Species of plant in the family Proteacea endemic to the Table Mountain range in South Africa

Mimetes fimbriifolius, also called cowl pagoda or the fringed pagoda, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a dense, rounded, multi-branched tree that grows up to 4 metres in height. This attractive and striking plant flowers all year round, and produces red and yellow branch-heads and inflorescences. The nectar-rich flowers are pollinated by sunbirds and the seeds are distributed and taken underground by ants before germinating. It is endemic to the Table Mountain range in the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

<i>Serruria elongata</i> Small shrub in the protea family from South Africa

Serruria elongata or long-stalk spiderhead is a plant belonging to the protea family. It is an erect, hairless shrublet of 1–1½ m (3½–5 ft) high with densely set, alternate, finely divided leaves lower down the plant, with needle-like segments. On top of an up to 30 cm (12 in) long inflorescence stalk are several, loosely arranged heads of pin-like, densely silvery-haired flower buds, each of which opens with four curled, magenta pink corolla lobes. The species is endemic to the southern Western Cape province of South Africa. It flowers during the southern hemisphere winter and early spring, between June and September.

<i>Serruria fasciflora</i> Shrublet in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Serruria fasciflora or common pin spiderhead is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a sprawling to upright shrublet of 40 cm to 1 m high and about 12 m wide. It has finely divided, upward curving leaves with thread-thin segments and clusters of sweetly scented heads, each consisting of five to seven silvery pink flowers, that may be found year-round, but mostly from May to December. It is a rather widespread and common species, that is restricted to the south of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Leucospermum praecox</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Leucospermum praecox is an evergreen, rounded, upright shrub of up to 3 m (9 ft) high, and 4 m (12 ft) in diameter that is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has hairless, inverted egg-shaped to broadly wedge-shaped leaves of about 5 cm (2 in) long with six to eleven teeth near the tip, globe-shaped flower head with initially yellow flowers, later orange or scarlet, with styles sticking far out, giving the head the appearance of a pincushion. It is called Mossel Bay pincushion or large-tufted pincushion in English. It flowers between April and September. It is an endemic species that is restricted to the very south of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Leucospermum patersonii</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Leucospermum patersonii is a large evergreen, upright shrub of up to 4 m (13 ft) high that is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has large, roundish hairless leaves with three to eight teeths and egg- to globe-shaped, orange flower heads of 8–9 cm (3.1–3.5 in) across. From the center of each flower emerges a long orange style with a thickened tip that is bent to the center of the head, giving the entire head the appearance of a pincushion. It is called silveredge pincushion in English. Flowers can be found between August and December. It is an endemic species limited to the south coast of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Leucospermum utriculosum</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape province of South Africa

Leucospermum utriculosum is a lax, evergreen, upright and arching shrub of 1–2 m high, from the family Proteaceae. It has hairless inverted lance-shaped to oblong leaves tipped with three to five teeth and globe-shaped to flattened light yellow to coppery flowerheads of 5–8 cm (2.0–3.2 in) in diameter. From the center of the flowers emerge almost straight styles that jointly give the impression of a pincushion. It is called Breede River pincushion in English. Although flower heads may occur on and off between May and March, the peak season is from September to November. It is known from the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Leucospermum spathulatum</i> The Cederberg pincushion is a shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Leucospermum spathulatum is an evergreen, spreading and mat-forming shrub, that has been assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has inverted egg-shaped to spade-shaped mostly greyish softly hairy leaves, mostly without teeth and flattened globe-shapec flower heads of 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) across, consisting of deep orange to crimson flowers, the bud and the style curving toward the center. It can be found in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The common name in English is Cederberg pincushion. It flowers between September and January, with a peak at the end of October.

<i>Leucospermum mundii</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape of South Africa

Leucospermum mundii is an evergreen, upright, rounded and richly branching shrub of 12–1 m high that is assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has greyish, felty hairy, or hairless leaves that are broadly wedge-shaped to very broadly inverted egg-shaped, 5–8+12 cm long and 2–6+12 cm wide and whorl-shaped flower heads that have shades of pale yellow to crimson, of 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide that grow in clusters of three to ten. Their long styles that emerge from the head jointly give the impression of a pincushion, with the pins upright. It is called Langeberg pincushion in English. Flowering heads can be found between July and November. It naturally occurs in fynbos in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Mimetes hottentoticus</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from Western Cape province of South Africa

Mimetes hottentoticus is an evergreen, upright shrub of 1½–3 m (5–10 ft) high from the family Proteaceae. It has silvery, broadly egg-shaped to egg-shaped leaves with three small teeth crowded at the tip. The flower heads and subtending leaves form a cylindric inflorescence, topped with a tuft of smaller, more or less upright silvery or pinkish leaves. Each flowerhead contains 8–12 flowers with conspicuously red styles, that are all parallel, projected straight up, pushing against the leaf subtending the higher flowerhead. The styles end in a short white zone topped by a thick blackish pollen presenter. Flowers can usually be found from January till March, few may persist into May. It is called silver pagoda or matchstick pagoda in English and Hottentotstompie in Afrikaans.

<i>Mimetes capitulatus</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae from the Western Cape province of South Africa

Mimetes capitulatus is an evergreen, upright, rounded shrub of about 2 m (7 ft) high, from the family Proteaceae. It has greyish green, lance- to egg-shaped leaves ending in a thickened tip. The flower heads and subtending leaves form a cylindric inflorescence, topped by ordinary, more or less upright leaves. Each primarily orange flowerhead contains 10–13 flowers with conspicuously scarlet styles, yellow under the narrow hourglass-like pollen presenter at its tip. Flowers can usually be found from mid-June till December, peaking in August. It is called conical pagoda in English and skraalstompie in Afrikaans.

<i>Mimetes stokoei</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae

Mimetes stokoei, the mace pagoda, is an evergreen, upright, hardly branching, large shrub of 1–2 m high in the family Proteaceae. It has silvery, oval leaves of 5–8 cm (2.0–3.2 in) long and 2+12–4 cm (1.0–1.6 in) wide, with one large tooth supported by two smaller teeth near the tip, at an upward angle and somewhat overlapping each other. The inflorescences are set just below the growing tip, are cylinder-shaped, 10–12 cm (4–5 in) high, topped by a crest of small, more or less horizontal, pinkish-purple tinged leaves. It consists of several flower heads in the axils of golden leaves with a pinkish wash that form a hood shielding the underlying flower head. Each flower head contains eight to twelve individual flowers, with amber-colored styles topped by blackish purple pollen presenters and grey silky perianth lobes. It is endemic to the Fynbos ecoregion of South Africa, being confined to the Kogelberg mountain range. The mace pagoda was twice presumed extinct, but reappeared in its natural habitat from seed, after a wildfire several decades later.

<i>Mimetes palustris</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to South Africa

Mimetes palustris or cryptic pagoda is an evergreen shrub, assigned to the family Proteaceae. It has horizontal sprawling shoots as well as upright, unbranched shoots usually about ½ m (1½ in) high. The leaves are entire and stand out on the lower parts of the shoots, but are overlapping and pressed tightly against each other near the inflorescence, almost like a snakeskin. The inflorescence consists of several flowerheads, each containing three clear yellow flowers that are longer than the subtending leaves. It is the smallest species of Mimetes and is an endemic species that grows on well-drained, but permanently moist sandy and peaty slopes in the mountains near Hermanus, Western Cape province of South Africa. It is considered critically endangered. Flowering occurs all year round, but peaks in August and September.

<i>Mimetes pauciflorus</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to South Africa

Mimetes pauciflorus, the three-flowered pagoda, is an evergreen, shyly branching, upright shrub of 2–4 (6½–13 ft) high, from the family Proteaceae. It has narrowly to broadly oval leaves of 2½–4 cm (1.0–1.6 in) long and ¾–2 cm (0.3–0.8 in) wide, on the upper parts of the branches, the lower parts leafless with a reddish brown bark. The inflorescences at the top of the shoots are cylinder-shaped, 10–40 cm (4–16 in) long and contain forty to one hundred twenty densely crowded flower heads, at a steep upward angle, hiding a crest of very small, almost vertical leaves. The flower heads each consist of three, rarely four individual flowers. The flowers are tightly enclosed by four or five orange-yellow, fleshy, pointy, lance-shaped involucral bracts, and three orange-yellow, 4–5½ cm (1.6–2.4 in) long bracteoles. It grows on always moist, south-facing slopes in the southern coastal mountains of South Africa. Flowers can be found from August to November, with a peak in September.

<i>Mimetes saxatilis</i> Endemic shrub in the family Proteaceae from South Africa

Mimetes saxatilis or limestone pagoda is an evergreen, upright, rarely branching shrub of 1–2¼ m (3⅓–7¼ ft) high, assigned to the family Proteaceae. The approximately oval leaves are 3½–5 cm (1.4–2.0 in) long and 1½–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) wide with a blunt, thickened, reddish tip or with three crowded teeth. It has cylinder-shaped inflorescences topped by a crest of green leaves, further consisting of heads with 12-22 individual bright yellow flowers, each in the axil of a flat, green leaf. It is an endemic species that is restricted to limestone outcrops in the Agulhas plains in the very south of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is considered an endangered species. Flowering may occur between July and December, but is unreliable in its timing, dependent on sufficient moisture availability.

<i>Mimetes argenteus</i> Endemic shrub from the Western Cape province of South Africa

Mimetes argenteus is an evergreen, upright, hardly branching, large shrub of about 2 m (6½ ft) high in the family Proteaceae. It has elliptic, silvery leaves, due to a dense covering of silky hairs, that stand out a right angle from the branches. It has cylindric inflorescences of 8–15 cm (3–6 in) long and 10–12 cm (4–5 in) in diameter, crested by smaller silvery pink leaves at an upright angle. These consist of many flower heads, each containing six to nine individual flowers and ar set in the axil of a leaf flushed mauve to carmine. It flowers from March to June. The silver pagoda naturally occurs in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is called silver pagoda or silver-leaved bottlebrush in English and vaalstompie in Afrikaans.

References

  1. Rebelo, A.G.; Raimondo, D.; von Staden, L. (2020). "Mimetes splendidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T113181386A185589406. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T113181386A185589406.en . Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rouke, John Patrick (1984). "Revision of the genus Mimetes Salisb. (Proteaceae)". Journal of South African Botany. 50 (2): 194–198.
  3. "Silver Pagodas". Protea Atlas Project.
  4. "Splendid Pagoda". SANBI Red List of South African Plants.