Thursday, 12 December 2013

FFF 108 - KING PROTEA

The king protea (Protea cynaroides) is a flowering plant. It is a distinctive member of Protea, having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot or king sugar bush. It is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of South Africa in the fynbos region.The king protea is the national flower of South Africa. It also is the flagship of the The Protea Atlas Project, run by the South African National Botanical Institute.

The king protea has several colour forms and horticulturists have recognised 81 garden varieties, some of which have injudiciously been planted in its natural range. In some varieties the pink of the flower and red borders of leaves are replaced by a creamy yellow. This unusual flower has a long vase life in flower arrangements, and makes for an excellent dried flower. Protea cynaroides is adapted to survive wildfires by its thick underground stem, which contains many dormant buds; these will produce the new growth after the fire.

Join me for Floral Friday Fotos by linking your flower photos below, and please leave a comment once you have done so!
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16 comments:

  1. Unknown12 December 2013 at 07:59

    Gorgeous bloom! Never seen one like it before!

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  2. Gemma Wiseman12 December 2013 at 11:16

    I am always fascinated by the various stages of growth of this flower in my garden. Even when the colour has gone and there are just brown tones it looks wonderful. A great photo.

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  3. Anonymous12 December 2013 at 13:52

    What a fabulous looking flower - great colours and patterns in the petals!
    Alison

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  4. The Gardening Magazine12 December 2013 at 14:44

    Great as cut flowers too.

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  5. Unknown12 December 2013 at 15:37

    Magnificent flowers!

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  6. Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪12 December 2013 at 16:53

    love the hardy protea

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  7. Sara Chapman12 December 2013 at 22:19

    This is the showiest of showy flowers. Forgive me for posting a photo of an artificial one. Not too much blooming outdoors right now, and hubby is allergic to real poinsettias.

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  8. Zauberpalme12 December 2013 at 23:32

    Magnificent! Happy Friday! And thank you for hosting ☆

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  9. Anonymous12 December 2013 at 23:56

    Just love Proteas

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  10. Anonymous12 December 2013 at 23:58

    This is my first successful comment on a Blgspot site

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  11. Ileana13 December 2013 at 06:24

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Unknown13 December 2013 at 13:08

    I have seen this flower before but have not known its name or how hardy it is. Imagine, surviving a fire and resurrecting itself... Thank you for such a great picture of such an interesting flowering plant (I love its leaves too). Meghan from Firebonnet.com (#26 above). Thanks also for hosting this!

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  13. Anonymous14 December 2013 at 01:08

    Hello,
    that's an amazing flower, love it.
    I took a picture of this wonderful cactus, you can see it here: http://www.reflexionblog.de/wer-redet-hier-von-stacheln/
    Wish you a nice Saturday,
    moni

    Thanks if you visit my blog
    http://www.reflexionblog.de

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  14. Unknown15 December 2013 at 22:32

    That's a stunning flower.

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  15. Anonymous25 January 2014 at 07:41

    Splendid detailed macro nicely framed and displayed !!!

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