You have never seen such spectacular flowers. The King Protea flower is often 6-8 inches across . Deep Pink petals surround a lighter pink volcano like center. Pincushion Protea flowers look like a fireworks display you can hold in your hand. The colors are stunning in bright yellow, coral, or dark reds.

Where did they come from? Over 300,000 million years old, Protea are an ancient flower family called Proteaceae. It is believed that approximately 140 million years ago, a massive land continent located in the southern hemisphere named Gondwanaland separated into several continents via the continental drift theory. This resulted in Protea flowers being found in several locations: South Africa (400 species), Australia (800 species) and South America (90 species). They are also found on various islands in the southern Hemisphere such as New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and S.E Asia.

This Gondwana biogeographical pattern of species distribution indicates an archaic plant lineage.

There are over 80 different Genera and 2000 species of Protea. They were named after the Greek Sea God named Proteus. He was known to be able to change his shape at will. Thus the name was given to the Proteaceae family for their multitude of different shapes and forms.

The Protea plant is often classified based on the shape of the flower. They grow in many different forms from shrubs to large 30 foot trees. They are evergreen. Most leaves are rugged, stiff and come in a variety of shapes. The flowers generally have no fragrant smell. They are hardy which makes them good for the cut flower industry. They are long lasting and can be dried to from arrangements, wreaths, dolls or other craft projects.

Interestingly Australia’s Macadamia nut and the Chilean Hazelnut are members of the Proteaceae family.

In the Australian sub-family Gervilleoideae there is a genus of protea flowers called Banksia. Banksias have a large flower spike. This is often 5-10 inches long. From this vertical spike emerge pairs of flowers coming out at a right angle. A single spike may have hundreds to thousands of flowers. The spike encases 2 seeds with a wing for wind dispersal. The spikes itself is used for wood turning projects, as a wood inlay in musical instruments or coasters. The Banksia plants like to grow in cooler, wet, upland areas and are an important source of nectar.

In the genus of flowers called Protea or “sugarbush” you find the stunning King Protea, Pink minks and Pink ice. The King Protea has evolved in South Africa with the Cape Sugarbird. The flower depends on the bird for pollination. In exchange the bird feeds on the nectar and the insects attracted to the nectar are caught and feed to its young. The Sugarbird begins nesting as soon as the King Protea begin to bloom.

In the 1700′s, in the Cape area of South Africa, the sugarbush was growing wild covering thousands of acres. The nectar was collected to be boiled down to a ruby red syrup used for medicinal purposes. The flower heads were broken off and inverted to collect the teaspoon of nectar in a jar. The heads were thrown away. If it had rained they would collect up to a cupful of dilute sugar water. The woody branches and stems of the sugarbush supplied firewood for over 200 years. None of these massive sugarbush stands survive today. The sugarbird relied on these summer blooming flowers for food as did other insects. Today the sugarbird still frequents the area during the summer. One can’t help but wonder how the population of sugarbirds has been affected by this decline in food source.

The nectar from Protea is a unusual sugar called Xylos.

Pincushion flowers are in the genera Leucospermom. These often look like miniature fireworks displays. They are a composite bloom made up of many smaller flowers. The bright pins emitting from the center of the flower head are actually the stigma. The colorful modified leaves below them are the stamens. These colorful odorless flowers are pollinated by birds. The seeds are collected by ants and stored underground. Wild fire’s kill the adult plants and at the same time stimulate the seeds stored underground to germinate to form new plants.

These interesting exotic flowers have been cultivated successfully in Europe, California and the upslope regions of Maui. New hybridized cultivars have been created. Protea in the wild are facing habitat destruction. Fortunately there is interest in preserving these fascinating plants.