Protea rubropilosa

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Protea rubropilosa
Protea rubropilosa 51146035.jpg
The red-haired developing inflorescence of Protea rubropilosa
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Protea
Species:
P. rubropilosa
Binomial name
Protea rubropilosa

Protea rubropilosa, also known as the Transvaal sugarbush, [3] [4] [5] escarpment sugarbush [3] or Transvaal mountain sugarbush, [3] is a flowering tree, [5] [6] that belongs to the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae. [3] [4] [7] The plant only occurs in South Africa. [3] [7]

Contents

Other vernacular names which have been recorded for this tree are platorand-suikerbos and Transvaalse berg-suikerbos in the Afrikaans language, and segwapi in Northern Sotho. [3]

Taxonomy

Protea rubropilosa was described as new to science by the British forester John Stanley Beard in 1958. [2] It had been discovered just earlier that same year by one S. Thompson on the Wolkberg. An isotype is kept at the herbarium at Kew. [8]

Description

The tree becomes 8 m (26 ft) high and is brushy, spreading out its canopy. The trunk is twisted and the bark gnarled. [5] It blooms in spring, [4] from September to December, with the peak in October. [5] The outside of the bracts are very hairy and coloured reddish-brown. [4] The inside of the bracts are bright red. [5] The florets turn from whitish to bright red. [4] The plant is monoecious, both sexes occur in each flower. [5]

Distribution

Protea rubropilosa is endemic to a section of the slopes of the Great Escarpment in northeastern South Africa, where it occurs in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. [3] [5] [7] It is distributed from the Wolkberg to Lydenburg. [5] It occurs along the Blyderivier. [4]

Ecology

Pollination occurs through the action of birds. The seed is released nine to twelve months after flowering. The seed is dispersed by means of the wind. The seeds simply lie on the ground until they are able to germinate, as opposed to being stored in the infructescence. The wildfires which periodically move through the land in which the tree grows destroy the adult plants, but the seeds can survive such an event. The plant grows on south-facing slopes, in sandstone and quartzite-derived soils, at altitudes of 1,400 to 2,300 metres. [5] It occurs in habitats of montane grassland around the Long Tom Pass, sourveld on mountain summits and cliff-slopes, and the fynbos which can occur in afromontane areas of the Northern Escarpment. [3]

Uses

This plant is grown at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. [4] The tree's national number is 97. [9]

Conservation

It is uncommon, [4] but the species is not threatened and it is locally abundant. [3] [5] As of 2019 the total population numbers are believed to be stable. It was first officially assessed as 'rare' in 1980, but in 1996, when the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI) first assessed this species for the Red data list of southern African plants, the conservation status was changed to 'not threatened'. In 2009 SANBI re-assessed Protea rubropilosa as 'least concern', an assessment which was reiterated in 2019. [3]

Related Research Articles

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

Protea neriifolia, also known as the narrow-leaf sugarbush, oleander-leaved sugarbush, blue sugarbush, or the oleanderleaf protea, is a flowering plant in the genus Protea, which is endemic to South Africa.

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

Protea gaguedi is a species of tree which belongs to the genus Protea.

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

Protea magnifica, commonly known as the queen protea, is a shrub, which belongs to the genus Protea within the family Proteaceae, and which is native to South Africa.

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

Protea effusa, sometimes known as the scarlet sugarbush, is a flowering plant which belongs to the genus Protea. The plant is endemic to the Western Cape province of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language the vernacular name blosrooisuikerbos has been recorded for this plant.

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

Protea intonsa, also known as the tufted sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea within the family Proteaceae, endemic to South Africa, where it is distributed from the eastern Swartberg and Kammanassie Mountains to the Baviaanskloof mountains. In Afrikaans it is known as klossie-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 susannae</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae

Protea susannae, also known as stink-leaf sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub of the genus Protea. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa.

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

Protea speciosa, also known as the brown-beard sugarbush, is a flowering shrub which is classified as within the genus Protea.

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

Protea glabra, also called the Clanwilliam sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus Protea.

<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 lorifolia</i> Species of shrub

Protea lorifolia, in English called the strap-leaved sugarbush, strap-leaved protea or strap-leaf sugarbush is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus Protea.

<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.

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

Protea subulifolia, the awl-leaf sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the Protea genus. The plant is native to the Western Cape and occurs from the Stettynskloof to Riviersonderendberge, Langeberg, Bot River to the Elim plain. The plant grows 50 cm in diameter and 70 cm tall and flowers from July to September.

References

  1. Rebelo, A.G.; Mtshali, H.; von Staden, L. (2020). "Protea rubropilosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T113219257A185582000. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T113219257A185582000.en . Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Protea rubropilosa". International Plant Names Index . The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rebelo, A.G.; Mtshali, H.; von Staden, L. (12 June 2019). "Escarpment Sugarbush". Red List of South African Plants. version 2020.1. South African National Biodiversity Institute . Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Protea rubropilosa (Transvaal sugarbush)". Biodiversity Explorer. Iziko - Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Mountain Sugarbushes - Proteas". Protea Atlas Project Website. 11 March 1998. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. Blatchford, Megan (January 2016). "Protea rubropilosa Beard". PlantZAfrica. South African National Biodiversity Institute . Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 "Protea rubropilosa Beard". Plants of the World Online . Kew Science. 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  8. "Specimen Details K000423673". Kew Herbarium Catalogue. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  9. "National List Of Indigenous Trees". Treetags. Retrieved 7 July 2020.