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 nerifola
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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 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.
[edit] Classification
Within the large family Proteaceae, they are a member of the subfamily Proteoideae, which has Southern African and Australian members.
[edit] Species
(listed by section: a section has a name in two parts, consisting of the genus name and an epithet).
- Protea section Leiocephalae
- Protea caffra (Common Protea)
- Protea dracomontana
- Protea glabra
- Protea inopina
- Protea nitida
- Protea nubigena
- Protea parvula
- Protea petiolaris
- Protea rupicola
- Protea simplex
- Protea section Paludosae
- Protea enervis
- Protea section Patentiflorae
- Protea angolensis
- Protea comptonii
- Protea curvata
- Protea laetans
- Protea madiensis
- Protea rubropilosa
- Protea rupestris
- Protea section Lasiocephalae
- Protea gaguedi
- Protea welwitschii
- Protea section Cristatae
- Protea asymmetrica
- Protea wentzeliana
- Protea section Cynaroidae
- Protea cynaroides (King Protea)
- Protea section Paracynaroides
- Protea cryophila (Snow Protea)
- Protea pruinosa
- Protea scabriuscula
- Protea scolopendriifolia
- Protea section Ligulatae
- Protea burchellii
- Protea compacta
- Protea eximia
- Protea longifolia
- Protea obtusifolia
- Protea pudens
- Protea roupelliae
- Protea susannae
- Protea section Melliferae
- Protea aristata
- Protea lanceolata
- Protea repens (Common Sugarbush Protea)
- Protea section Speciosae
- Protea coronata
- Protea grandiceps
- Protea holosericea
- Protea laurifolia
- Protea lepidocarpodendron
- Protea lorifolia
- Protea magnifica
- Protea neriifolia (Oleander-leaf Protea)
- Protea speciosa
- Protea stokoei
- Protea section Exsertae
- Protea aurea
- Protea lacticolor
- Protea mundii
- Protea punctata
- Protea subvestita
- Protea venusta
- Protea section Microgeantae
- Protea acaulos
- Protea convexa
- Protea laevis
- Protea revoluta
- Protea ungustata
- Protea section Crinitae
- Protea foliosa
- Protea intonsa
- Protea montana
- Protea tenax
- Protea vogtsiae
- Protea section Pinifolia
- Protea acuminata
- Protea canaliculata
- Protea nana
- Protea pityphylla
- Protea scolymocephala
- Protea witzenbergiana
- Protea section Craterifolia
- Protea effusa
- Protea namaquana
- Protea pendula
- Protea recondita
- Protea sulphurea
- Protea section Obvallatae
- Protea caespitosa
- Protea section Subacaules
- Protea aspera
- Protea denticulata
- Protea lorea
- Protea piscina
- Protea restionifolia
- Protea scabra
- Protea scorzonerifolia
[edit] External links
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- Protea Atlas Project: a project to map the distribution of South African plant species, using Protea as a flagship.
- NCBI Taxonomy Browser
