Plants: Protea aristata - Ladismith Sugarbush

Protea aristata "Ladismith Protea" - Flower head 4"-5" across red with pink center and small hairy flowers. Branches are covered with thin "needle-like" leaves. The Protea Aristata, a very rare protea specie, was redis-covered in the 1950s, after it was believed for quite some time that it had become extinct. This protea flowers in December and in spring when the aloes are in bloom.

The common names for different proteas promise extravagance, and proteas deliver. Their "flowers" (actually a head or cluster of long, narrow, tubular flowers, often surrounded by colorful petal-like leaves or bracts) come in unbelievable sizes, shapes, textures, and color ranges.

Genus of 115 species. The genus is named after the Greek god Proteus, who was able to change his shape at will, an indication of the diversity and variety to be found in the Protea family. It bears red-pink, open flower heads about 5" across for most of the year, but they are at their showiest in spring.

Publisher: Hirt's Gardens