6
Corolla with keel petals considerably longer than the standard; standard with a suborbicular lamina 12 mm long, 15 mm wide; wings longer than standard, oblong-lanceolate, 12 mm long with a 3 mm claw; keel petals narrowly elliptic, 15 mm long with a 4 mm claw. Stamens 10, fused into a stamina1sheath 15 mm long. Ouary stipitate, glabrous except for a few hairs on the margin, containing approximately 20 ovules. Fruit a stipitate flat glabrous pod, 3 cm long, 1 cm wide (but normally reaching 6 cm in length, according to the literature). DISTRIBUTION. New South Wales, Victoria, South and Western Australia. * HABITAT. Mos't commonly found in m a k e communities (multi-stemmed shrubby Eucalyptus species) on calcareous red earths, but also recorded from stands of green m a k e ( E . viridis) with skeletal soils; occasionally found in open BIMBLE BOX or POPLAR BOX (Eucalyptus populnea), RED BOX (E. polyanthemos) and WILGA (Geijeraparuijora). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We are grateful to Mr Martin Staniforth of the Temperate and Arboretum Nursery for information on cultivation at Kew. REFERENCES Crisp, M. D. and Weston, P. H. (1987). Cladistics and Legume Sys- tematics, with an analysis of the Bossiaeeae, Brogniartieae and Mirbelieae. In Stirton, C. H. (ed.), Advances in Legume Systematics 3: 65-130. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Polhill, R. M. (1981). Tribe Bossiaeeae (Benth.) Hutch. In Poihill, R. M. and Raven, P. H. (eds.), Advances in Legume Systematics 1: 393-395. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Smith, B. (1 985). European vision and the South Paczjic, Ed. 2. Yale University Press. New Haven & London. 256. PROTEA AUREA subspecies AUREA Proteaceae Sandy Atkins The Protea story begins around 1597 when a Dutch trade mission, en route for the East Indies, stopped at the Cape of Good Hope; amongst the things they collected was a dried flower-head of Protea nerifolia R. Br. which Clusius, the great French scientist, subse- quently described as an elegant thistle, Carduus generis elegantissimi cujusdam caput (Clusius, 1605). During the last years of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century, various species of Protea had been collected in southern Africa and 0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 1oBCowley Road, Oxrord OX4 IJF. UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA02142, USA. 174

256. PROTEA AUREA subspecies AUREA : Proteaceae

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Corolla with keel petals considerably longer than the standard; standard with a suborbicular lamina 12 mm long, 15 mm wide; wings longer than standard, oblong-lanceolate, 12 mm long with a 3 mm claw; keel petals narrowly elliptic, 15 mm long with a 4 mm claw. Stamens 10, fused into a stamina1 sheath 15 mm long. Ouary stipitate, glabrous except for a few hairs on the margin, containing approximately 20 ovules. Fruit a stipitate flat glabrous pod, 3 cm long, 1 cm wide (but normally reaching 6 cm in length, according to the literature).

DISTRIBUTION. New South Wales, Victoria, South and Western Australia. *

HABITAT. Mos't commonly found in m a k e communities (multi-stemmed shrubby Eucalyptus species) on calcareous red earths, but also recorded from stands of green m a k e ( E . viridis) with skeletal soils; occasionally found in open BIMBLE BOX or POPLAR BOX (Eucalyptus populnea), RED BOX ( E . polyanthemos) and WILGA (Geijeraparuijora).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We are grateful to Mr Martin Staniforth of the Temperate and Arboretum Nursery for information on cultivation at Kew.

REFERENCES

Crisp, M. D . and Weston, P. H. (1987). Cladistics and Legume Sys- tematics, with an analysis of the Bossiaeeae, Brogniartieae and Mirbelieae. In Stirton, C . H. (ed.), Advances in Legume Systematics 3: 65-130. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Polhill, R. M. (1981). Tribe Bossiaeeae (Benth.) Hutch. In Poihill, R. M. and Raven, P. H. (eds.), Advances in Legume Systematics 1: 393-395. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Smith, B. (1 985). European vision and the South Paczjic, Ed. 2. Yale University Press. New Haven & London.

256. PROTEA AUREA subspecies AUREA Proteaceae

Sandy Atkins

The Protea story begins around 1597 when a Dutch trade mission, en route for the East Indies, stopped at the Cape of Good Hope; amongst the things they collected was a dried flower-head of Protea nerifolia R. Br. which Clusius, the great French scientist, subse- quently described as an elegant thistle, Carduus generis elegantissimi cujusdam caput (Clusius, 1605). During the last years of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth century, various species of Protea had been collected in southern Africa and

0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 1oBCowley Road, Oxrord O X 4 IJF. U K and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA02142, USA. 174

Protea aurea subsp. aurea CHRISTABEL KING

taken to Europe, including a dried branch of Protea repens Thunb. which was brought from the Cape by a Mr Goddard and presented at the Royal Society, where it was received with astonishment. From that time the genus has been much sought after and cultivated for its spectacular flower-heads.

Believing the genus to be very diverse in form, Linnaeus ( 1737a, 173713, 1754) named it after the Greek god Proteus who was capable ofappearing in many different forms, although at the time he was not aware of just how apt this name would prove to be. Linnaeus’ concept of the genus was superseded, mainly by Richard Salisbury (1807) and Robert Brown (1810), with much taxonomic and nomenclatural confusion in the intervening years; now, there are thought to be over 100 species. The name for the species illustrated here was not elucidated until 1979 when J. P. Rourke finally resolved the matter (Rourke, 1979).

The earliest representation of Protea aurea (Burm. f.) Rourke subsp. aurea was as Leucadendron aureum in Herman Boerhaave’s Index Alter Plantarum in 1720; it is thought that the epithet aureum was applied to the plant because the bracts are yellowish when dry (Rourke, 1980). It appears to have been cultivated first at the Utrecht Botanical Garden where, according to Schneevogt in his Icones Plantarum Rariorum, it flowered in 1795; by 181 1 it was being grown, and was flowering, at Joseph Knight’s Exotic Nursery in the Kings Road, Chelsea and at the Vineyard of Lee and Kennedy in Hammersmith (Sims, 1815). Bonpland (1816) tells us that seeds of this species were sown in 1810 in the glasshouses of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison, France, and that four years later the plants flowered. They formed the subject of a very beautiful painting by Pierre-Joseph RedoutC that was made into a colour plate for Description desplantes rares cultivies ri Malmaison et ri Navarre. The species was also illustrated by Sydenham Edwards in Curtis’ Botanical Magazine (Sims, 1815) as Protea la t i f l ia (sensu Sims), from a plant grown by Joseph Knight in 181 1.

The plant featured here was grown from a batch of seeds donated to Kew by the National Botanic Garden, Kirstenbosch and only one year elapsed before it flowered. The species is now widely cultivated, its seedlings commonly flowering after one year, although regular flowering should only be expected after three years. Normally in cultivation it is shrubby in habit but in its natural habitat it can form a small tree 3-5 m in height.

0 Bcnrham-Moron Trust 1994 175

CULTIVATION. Protea aurea is quite easy to cultivate. After sowing, the seeds should be well-watered and covered. Germination is best in a good ‘open’ seed compost at approximately 16-18°C with a drop in temperature at night. It is advisable to cease watering from above until the seedlings have emerged, to prevent ‘damping-off. Plants should be moved into individual pots when quite young, and grown on in a cool well-aired house with full light. Providing that a minimum temperature of 5°C can be maintained the more ventila- tion the better, as this will give a more compact plant. The potting medium used in the Temperate Nursery at Kew is made up of 2 parts coir: 1 bark: 1 grit with a low dose of controlled-release fertilizer. No phosphate should be used. Watering in summer can be generous, but it is preferable to allow the compost to dry between waterings and it should not be allowed to become waterlogged. Regular pruning after flowering will keep the shrub to a manageable size.

Proteaaurea (Burm. f.) Rourke subsp. aurea. Rourke in J. S. African Bot. 45: 471 (1979); Rourke, Proteas of Southern Africa: 172 (1980); F. von Breitenbach in J. Dendrol. 6: 35 (1986). Type: Boerhaave, Ind. Alt. Plant. t. 199 (1720) to include flowering branch labelled A,B,C,D,E,F,I and K (lectotype, Rourke, 1979) but to exclude cone and fruits labelled G,H,L and M. Leucadendron aureum Burm. f., Prodr. F1. Cap.: 4 (1768). Type: as above. Protea 1ongiJora Lam., Tabl. Encycl. (Illust. Gen.) 1: 234 (1 792); R. Br. in

Trans. Linn. SOC. London 10: 76 (1810); Hook. in Bot. Mag. 54, t. 2720 (1827); Meisn. in DC., Prodr. 14: 234 (1856); E. Phillips & Stapf. in Thiselton-Dyer, F1. Cap. 5: 577 (1912); Rourke in F1. P1. Afr. 43, t. 1704 (1976). Type: Cape of Good Hope, without collector, in Herb. Lamarck. (P, LA).

Protea calycina Schneev., Icon. PI. Rar. t. 48 (1 795). Type: Plate 48. Protea radiatu Andrews, Bot. Repos. t. 646 (1812). Type: Plate 646. Protea lutifolia semu Sims in Bot. Mag. 41 : t. 17 1 7 ( 18 15). Protea radiata Bonpl., Descr. PI. Malmaison: 144, t. 59 (1816). Type:

Plate 59. Protea ovata Thunb. in Mkm. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg Hist. Acad.

6: 548, t. 1717 (1818). Type: Cape of Good Hope, Sparnnan s.n., sheet 2948 in Herb. Thunberg (UPS).

Erodendmm aemulum Salisb. ex Knight, Cult. Prot.: 38 (1809). Type: South Africa, Attaquas Kloof, Niven 35 (K!).

DESCRIPTION. Small shrub or tree to 3 m. Main stem scabrid with corky lenticels and scattered white hairs and with prominent woody leaf scars. Upper axillary stems smooth, green with a pink tinge, and more densely hairy than main stem. Leaves alternate, entire, sessile, greyish green with yellow

176 0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994

C

1

H

I.

i

G

f

Protea aurea subsp. aurea. A, outer bract (external view), X 2/3; B, middle bract (external view), X 2/3;C, inner bract (internalview), X 2/3;D, flower, X 1; E, transversesectionofflower (diagrammatic); F, open flower, X 2; G, stamen, X 4; H, developing ovary with style, X 1; developing ovary, X 3. Drawn by Pat Halliday.

markings around veins, oblong, 3-7 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, obtuse - acuminate at apex, truncate or slightly auriculate at base, white pilose on both surfaces. Inflrescence terminal, solitary, beginning as a long cylindrical bud which opens to a funnel-shaped head with a single whorl of flowers, finally measuring 11 cm diameter when fully open. Receptacle convex. Bracts in 5-8 rows, creamy green to dark pink; outer bracts broadly ovate, apex broadly cuspidate, surface and margins sericeous; inner bracts broadly ensiform, 3.5-5 cm long, about 1 cm wide. Pen'anth 8-10 cm long, straight, bilaterally symmetric with the three adaxial perianth segments fused from the base, while the fourth perianth segment separates from the perianth sheath as each individual flower opens; style 7-8 cm long; ovary about 3 mm long.

DISTRIBUTION. South Africa, coastal mountains of the southern Cape. HABITAT. Cool moist situations, mainly on south-facing slopes;

150-800 m (Rourke, 1980).

0 Bentham-Moxon Trust 1994 177

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. I am indebted to Martin Staniforth of the Temperate Department at Kew for so successfully rearing this plant and for providing the cultivation notes; also to Dr D. J. N. Hind for advice.

REFERENCES

Bonpland, A. J. A. ( 18 16). Descriptions des plantes rares cultivies a Malmaison et

Brown, R. (1810). O n the Proteaceae ofJussieu. Transactions o f the Linnean

Clusius, C. (1605). Exoticorum Libri Decern: Fruit No. 15. Antwerp. Linnaeus, C. (1737a). Critica Botanica: 119. Leiden. - (1737b). Genera Plantarum: 22. Leiden. - ( 1 754). Genera Plantarum Ed. 5: 41. Stockholm. Rourke, J. P. (1979). Notes on Protea in South Africa. Journal o f South

- (1980). The Proteas o f Southern Africa: 198. Purnell, Cape Town,

Salisbury, R. A. (1807). The Paradisus Londinensis. Hooker, London. Sims, J. (1815). Curtis's BotanicalMagazine41: t. 1717.

a Navarre. Didot, Paris.

Society, London 10: 15-226.

African Botany 45(4) : 469-471.

Johannesburg and London.

257. MIMETES CHRYSANTHUS Proteaceae

John Rourke

From a floristic point ofview, South Africa- the Cape in particular - is generally regarded as one ofthe better known parts of the African continent and it is often assumed that after three centuries of botanical exploration most of that region's larger, ornamental plant species have been discovered and described. Surprisingly this is not so, as the dramatic discovery of Mimetes chrysanthus in the spring of 1987 proves only too clearly. During the past twenty years well over a hundred spectacular previously unknown species have been brought to light, most ofthem narrow endemics from remote, rarely visited peaks or secluded, largely unexplored valleys in the moun- tains of the Cape. Mimetes chrysanthus, which until very recently was thought to be endemic to the Gamka Mountain Nature Reserve in the Southern Cape, is a typical example.

Rising to 1100 m from the sparsely vegetated plains of the Little Karoo, Gamkaberg is an island ofmountainfynbos (a sclerophyllous heathland) in an otherwise arid landscape. The whole 9500 hectare massif was proclaimed as a nature reserve in 1974 by the Cape

178 0 Bmrham-Moron Trust 1991 Publishrd by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 IJF. UK and 238 Main Street. Carnbridqe, MA 02142, USA