Protea nubigena

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Cloud sugarbush
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Protea
Species:
P. nubigena
Binomial name
Protea nubigena

Protea nubigena, commonly known as cloud sugarbush, [2] [3] is a very rare species of a flowering shrub belonging to the Protea genus. It is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa [2] [4] and is found in the uKhahlamba Basalt Grassland within the Royal Natal National Park, near Mont-Aux-Sources, at an altitude of about 2,250 metres (7,380 ft) in well-drained, humus-rich soil on shaded slopes. [2] [5]

Contents

Description

The plant grows as an erect shrub which is up to 70 cm (28 in) high, and blooms from March to April. It is a long-lived species, and survives fires by resprouting from underground boles or rootstocks. The plant is monoecious with both sexes in each flower; the wind-dispersed seeds are not stored on the plant and are released immediately after ripening. It is pollinated by birds. [2] [3]

Conservation

It is listed as 'critically endangered' on the SANBI red list, as the population of mature individual plants within the one known location are in decline, mostly due to poor fire management. [2] [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Protea caffra</i> Species of African sugarbush

Protea caffra, native to South Africa, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and hairless. The flower head is solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 with the involucral bracts a pale red, pink or cream colour. The fruit is a densely hairy nut. The species is highly variable and has several subspecies.

<i>Protea welwitschii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea welwitschii is a species of shrub or small tree which belongs to the genus Protea, and which occurs in bushveld and different types of grassland.

<i>Protea laurifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea laurifolia, also known as the grey-leaf sugarbush, is a shrub from South Africa. It is native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa.

<i>Protea comptonii</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea comptonii, also known as saddleback sugarbush, is a smallish tree of the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini.

<i>Protea acaulos</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea acaulos, also known as the common ground sugarbush, is a flowering plant found in the southwestern Cape Region, South Africa. It is also simply known as ground protea; in the Afrikaans language it is known as an aardroos.

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

Leucospermum pedunculatum is an evergreen, low shrub of 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) high spreading from a single stern upright stem, from the family Proteaceae. The powdered or hairless line-shaped to somewhat sickle-shaped leaves are 3–6 cm (1.2–2.4 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.08–0.20 in) wide. The stalked, individually set flower heads are globe-shaped, 2½−3 cm in diameter consist of initially white to pale cream flowers that eventually turn carmine. From the center of the flowers emerge straight styles that jointly give the impression of a pincushion. It is called white-trailing pincushion in English. It flowers from August to January, peaking in September. It is an endemic species that is restricted to a narrow strip on the south coast of the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Protea namaquana</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea namaquana, also known as the Kamiesberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant which belongs to the genus Protea. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa, in particular the Kamiesberg mountains of Namaqualand in the Northern Cape province. The species has a worldwide distribution of only 18 km2. It is regarded as critically endangered. In the Afrikaans language it has the vernacular name is Kamiesbergsuikerbos.

<i>Protea pendula</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea pendula, also known as the nodding sugarbush or arid sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea, in the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the Cape Region of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language it is known as knikkopsuikerbossie or ondersteboknopprotea.

<i>Protea foliosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea foliosa, also known as the leafy sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae which is endemic to the Cape Region of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language it is known as ruie-suikerbos.

<i>Protea vogtsiae</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea vogtsiae, also known as the Kouga sugarbush, is a small flowering shrub of the genus Protea within the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the southern Cape Region of South Africa.

<i>Protea dracomontana</i> Species of flowering shrub

Protea dracomontana, the Nyanga protea or the Drakensberg sugarbush, is a flowering plant that belongs within the genus Protea. The plant is found in the Eastern Cape, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal and the escarpment of the Free State, as well as eastern Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe this species is only known from a disjunct subpopulation confined to the summit of Mount Nyangani.

<i>Protea pudens</i> Flowering tree

Protea pudens, also known as the bashful sugarbush, is a low-growing, groundcover-like, flowering shrub in the genus Protea. It is only found growing in the wild in a small area in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

<i>Protea angustata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea angustata, also known as the Kleinmond sugarbush, is a flowering shrub that belongs to the genus Protea. This plant is endemic to the south-west Cape Region of South Africa.

<i>Protea witzenbergiana</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea witzenbergiana, or Swan sugarbush, is a flowering shrub of the genus Protea.

<i>Protea simplex</i> Species of plant

Protea simplex, the dwarf grassveld sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the genus Protea. It is native to South Africa.

<i>Protea parvula</i> Species of flowering shrub

Protea parvula, also known as the dainty sugarbush, or kleinsuikerbos in Afrikaans, is a small flowering shrub belonging to the genus Protea.

Protea convexa, also known as large-leaf sugarbush, is a rare flowering shrub in the genus Protea of the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa.

<i>Protea subvestita</i> Species of flowering plant

Protea subvestita, the waterlily sugarbush, is a flower bearing shrub that belongs to the well-known genus Protea. The plant is endemic to South Africa and occurs in Mpumalanga on the escarpment of the Wakkerstroom, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Eastern Cape and the Klein Swartberg. The shrub is large, erect and grows up to 5 m. It flowers mainly from January to March.

<i>Protea venusta</i> Species of flowering plant

Protea venusta, the cascade sugarbush or creeping beauty, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the genus Protea. It is endemic to South Africa.

Leucadendron sheilae, the Lokenberg conebush, is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus Leucadendron and forms part of the fynbos, a South African biogeographical region. The plant is native to the Western and Northern Capes, where it occurs at Lokenberg in the Bokkeveld Mountains. The plant grows mainly in hard sandstone sand on level crests at altitudes of 600 to 900 metres (2,000–3,000 ft). In Afrikaans it is known as Lokenberg-tolbos.

References

  1. Rebelo, A.G., Mtshali, H. & von Staden, L. 2020. Protea nubigena. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T113211106A185570554. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T113211106A185570554.en. Downloaded on 07 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "SANBI Red List of South African Plants". Threatened Species Programme. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 Pajor, Istvan. "Grassland Sugarbushes". Protea Atlas Project. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. "Protea nubigena Rourke - Detail". African plant database. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. "Protea nubigena Rourke". Tropicos. 4 April 1978. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  6. Pajor, Istvan. "Protea nubigena CLOUD PROTEA in the Drakensberg". Protea Atlas Project. Retrieved 13 July 2020.

Sources