| Protea gaguedi | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Protea |
| Species: | P. gaguedi |
| Binomial name | |
| Protea gaguedi | |
| Synonyms [3] | |
| |
Protea gaguedi is a species of tree which belongs to the genus Protea . [3]
This tree is known by the common name of African protea. [6] [7]
Other vernacular names for this species used in South Africa include African sugarbush, [4] [8] [9] African white sugarbush, deciduous sugarbush or white sugarbush. In isiZulu [4] and Ndebele it is known as isiqalaba, [7] in the Northern Sotho language it is called segwapi, and in Venda tshizungu. [4] In Shona it may be called mubonda, mumhonda, or musitsuru. [7] In Afrikaans this species is known by the vernacular names of Afrika-witsuikerbos, grootsuikerbos, groot-suikerbos, suikerbos or witsuikerbos. [4]
P. gaguedi was first described as a new species by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1791. [2] [5]
This plant usually grows in the form of a small, erect to gnarled tree, [6] [9] reaching up to three metres in height. [9]
It has leaves which are oblong to elliptic, and often distinctly sickle-shaped. [6] The leaves are glabrous (hairless) when mature, [7] [10] except for a few hairs near the base of the blade. The leaves are coloured light green to blue-green. The prominent midrib of the leaves is coloured somewhat yellowish. [7]
It usually has solitary flower heads, a specialised type of inflorescence. [10] These flower heads are quite variable in form, [7] but can grow up to 11 cm in diameter. [10] The flower heads are densely hairy and have a very strong scent. [7] The outer involucral bracts range in colour from pink, [7] [10] to greenish-white, [10] to white. The inner bracts are covered in silver hairs and are coloured pale green. The margins of the bracts may or may not have rusty-coloured hairs sprouting from them. [7]
The fruit is a hairy nutlet. [7]
It is similar to P. welwitschii, but this species has 60mm diameter flower heads which are usually clustered together in groups of three or four, and young leaves densely covered in hairs, with older leaves retaining pubescence at their base. [10]
It is widely distributed in Africa, from Eritrea [3] in the north, to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. [5] It does not occur in the Sahel of West Africa. [3] [11] Countries it occurs in include Sudan (including South Sudan), Eritrea, [3] Ethiopia, Burundi, [5] [3] Rwanda, [5] Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, [5] [3] the Democratic Republic of Congo, [3] Zambia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini and South Africa. [5] [3]
In South Africa it is a widespread species across the north of the country, and can be found in Gauteng, [4] KwaZulu-Natal, [4] [5] [3] [12] Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West Province. [4]
It found in a variety of habitats, although it is often grows on rocky ground. [6]
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.
Protea angolensis is also known as the Angolan protea, northern protea or northern sugarbush. In Afrikaans it is known as the noordelijke suikerbos. This is a dwarf, multistemmed shrub or small straggling tree occurring in open wooded grassland and miombo.
Protea aurea, the long-bud sugarbush, is a shrub or small tree with a single trunk occurring in mountain fynbos, usually on cool, moist, southern slopes. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa.
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.
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.
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.
Commiphora schimperi, also known as glossy-leaved corkwood, is a tree species in the genus Commiphora, which is native to Namibia, Zimbabwe and northern South Africa.
Felicia mossamedensis or yellow felicia is a well-branched, roughly hairy, annual or perennial plant of up to 30 cm (1 ft) high, assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has alternately arranged, seated, flat to slightly succulent, broad-based, entire, blunt tipped leaves. The flower heads sit individually on top of a stalk of up to 8 cm (3 in) long, have an involucre of three whorls of bracts, many yellow ray florets and many yellow disk florets. It can be found in southern Africa, in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa and on the coast of Angola.
Drypetes arguta, commonly known as the water ironplum, is a species of small tree or large bush in the family Putranjivaceae. It is native to tropical East Africa. It was first described in 1920 by the English botanist John Hutchinson, who named it Cyclostemon argutus. It was later transferred to the genus Drypetes.
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.
Protea sulphurea, also known as the sulphur sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae, which is only known to grow in the wild in the Western Cape province of South Africa. A vernacular name for the plant in the Afrikaans language is heuningkoeksuikerbos or Skaamblom.
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.
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.
Protea rubropilosa, also known as the Transvaal sugarbush, escarpment sugarbush or Transvaal mountain sugarbush, is a flowering tree, that belongs to the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae. The plant only occurs in South Africa.
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.
Protea glabra, also called the Clanwilliam sugarbush, is a flowering shrub belonging to the genus Protea.
Protea pityphylla, also known as Ceres sugarbush or mountain rose, is a flowering shrub of the genus Protea, in the family Proteaceae. The plant is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa.
Protea madiensis, commonly known as the tall woodland sugarbush, is a flowering shrub which belongs to the genus Protea. It is native to the montane grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Protea simplex, the dwarf grassveld sugarbush, is a flower-bearing shrub belonging to the genus Protea. It is native to South Africa.
Protea nubigena, commonly known as cloud sugarbush, is a very rare species of a flowering shrub belonging to the Protea genus. It is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa 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.
