Protea laetans

Blyde river protea

Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Protea
Species:	P. laetans
Binomial name
*Protea laetans* L.E.Davidson

The Blyde river protea or Blyde sugarbush (Protea laetans) is a localized plant of the Proteaceae family. It was recognised as a species in 1970, and is endemic to the Blyde River Canyon of the Mpumalanga escarpment, South Africa.^[1] The slender plants are up to 5m tall and flower from mid to late summer. The bracts of their closed flower heads are shiny and silvery in appearance.^[1] They are most easily viewed near the F.H. Odendaal camp of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. Laetans means joyous, i.e. Blyde.

Sources

↑ 1.0 1.1 Onderstall, Jo (1984). Transvaal lowveld and escarpment. South African wild flower guide 4. Cape Town: Botanical Society of South Africa. p. 86. ISBN 0-620-07750-6.

Hilton-Taylor, C. et al. 1998. Protea laetans. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Downloaded on 23 August 2007.

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