Editing Protea

{{short description|Genus of South African flowering plants}}
{{about|the plant genus|further uses|Protea (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image =  Protea repens bush.jpg
|image_caption = The original South African "''suikerbossie''" (sugarbush) ''[[Protea repens]]''
|display_parents = 2
|taxon = Protea
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] (1771), nom. cons.
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = [[#Species|See text]]
|synonyms = 
*''Chrysodendron'' {{small|Vaill. ex Meisn. (1856)}}
*''Erodendrum'' {{small|Salisb. (1807)}}
*''Leucadendron'' {{small|L. (1753), nom. rej.}}
*''Pleuranthe'' {{small|Salisb. (1809)}}
*''Scolymocephalus'' {{small|Kuntze (1891)}}
*''Serraria'' {{small|Adans. (1763), nom. superfl.}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331879-2 ''Protea''] L.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 27 September 2023.</ref>
}}

'''''Protea''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|r|oʊ|t|iː|ə}}<ref>{{OED|Protea}}<br>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607</ref>) is a [[genus]] of South African [[flowering plant]]s, also called '''sugarbushes''' ([[Afrikaans]]: ''suikerbos''). It is the [[type genus]] of the [[Proteaceae]] family.<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |title=''Protea'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331879-2 |date=2023 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=25 September 2023}}</ref>

About 92% of the species occur only in the [[Cape Floristic Region]], a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from [[Clanwilliam, Western Cape|Clanwilliam]] to [[Grahamstown]], South Africa. Most protea species are found south of the [[Limpopo River]]. ''[[Protea madiensis]]'' grows in [[Afromontane]] enclaves across tropical Africa, from [[Guinea]] to [[Sudan]], [[Mozambique]], and [[Angola]].<ref>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:705934-1 ''Protea madiensis'' Oliv.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 27 September 2023].</ref> ''[[Protea afra]]'' ranges from the Cape region to [[Uganda]] and [[Kenya]], including in the [[chaparral]] zone of [[Mount Kenya National Park]]. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape flora are thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape, where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species.

== Etymology ==
The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by [[Carl Linnaeus]] when he was examining male and female plants of a species now known as ''[[Leucadendron argenteum]]'' which are very different from each other; he misunderstood them to be two different species, and he compared those forms to the ability of Greek god [[Proteus]] who could change his form at will.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ben-Jaacov |first1=Jaacov |last2=Silber |first2=Avner |editor-last=Janick |editor-first=Jules |year=2006 |chapter=Leucadendron: A Major Proteaceous Crop |title=Horticultural Reviews |volume=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNZ2ODMVzkkC&q=protea+proteus |location=Hoboken, New Jersey, USA |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |page=169 |isbn=978-0-471-73216-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rourke |first=John P. |year=1982 |title=The Proteas of Southern Africa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=199FAAAAYAAJ&q=proteus |location=Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |publisher=Centaur Publishing |pages=44–46 |isbn=0908379102 }}</ref>  Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging several genera previously published by [[Herman Boerhaave]], although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications.

== Taxonomy ==
[[File:Protea exima.jpg|thumb|''[[Protea eximia]]'' flower.]]

The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among [[angiosperms]]. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in [[Gondwana]], in the [[Upper Cretaceous]], 75–80 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dettmann |first1=Mary E. |last2=Jarzen |first2=David M. |date=April 1991 |title=Pollen evidence for Late Cretaceous differentiation of Proteaceae in southern polar forests |journal=Canadian Journal of Botany |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=901–906 |doi=10.1139/b91-116|bibcode=1991CaJB...69..901D }}</ref> The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the [[Proteoideae]], best represented in southern Africa, and the [[Grevillea|Grevilleoideae]], concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with [[Madagascar]], whereas South America and Australia share many common genera – this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.

== Description ==
Proteas usually flower during spring. Protea flowers have large [[perianth|heads]] made of small florets packed on a woody [[receptacle (botany)|receptacle]], each floret is reddish or pinkish in color and measures between 28.4 and 53.8 millimeters. The [[carpel]] in the flower's center is cream colored.<ref name="PSaE">{{cite journal |last1=Steenhuisen |first1=Sandy-Lynn |last2=Johnson |first2=Steven D. |title=Evidence for beetle pollination in the African grassland sugarbushes (''Protea'': Proteaceae) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257447283 |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |date=May 2012 |volume=298 |issue=5 |pages=857–869 |doi=10.1007/s00606-012-0589-5 |bibcode=2012PSyEv.298..857S }}</ref> The ovary is protected by the receptacle, and thus is not seen when looking at the flower, but the anthers are present at the top of the flower, which can then easily transfer the pollen to the vectors.

Proteas are pollinated by birds, insects, and wind. All the florets open big enough for small and medium beetles to land and feed on their nectar before flying to other heads pollinating them in the process.<ref name="PSaE" /> Some protea flower species, like the [[Protea cynaroides|king protea]] flower, are [[self-pollinating]] flowers. Other protea species, however, such as ''P. cordata'', ''P. decurrens'', and ''P. scabra'' are [[self-incompatible]], and thus rely on cross-pollination for successive seed sets. Some ''Protea'' species exhibit both self-pollination and cross-pollination as a method of reproduction. Cross-pollination is preferred, though, as a method of reproduction because it provides genetic diversity in the population. When cultivating proteas, breeders use hand pollination as a controlled method to transfer pollen from one flower to another. <!-- not encyclopedic how-to  These steps are used by breeders to perform hand pollination:<ref name="auto">(Littlejohn, G.M. (2002). Breeding Technology for Protea. Fynbos Research. Page 2)</ref>

*Cover the inflorescence, which contain only closed flowers, with a plastic bag
*Once the first few flowers have opened, most have to be cut back to 10-20 flowers around the receptacle
*After 3 days, the pollen may be applied using a toothpick. The flower should then again be covered with a plastic bag and marked with a tag containing information regarding the seed, the parent, and the date of pollination. This step should be repeated until all the flowers are opened and pollinated.
*The seed head should be harvested at 9-12 months  and dried at temperatures more or less at 40°C to remove the seeds from the receptacle
*The seeds can  be germinated in autumn using hot water
*The seeds should then be placed in a sterilized potting medium for germination.
 -->

=== Genetics ===
The common Proteaceae plants, e.g. ''Protea'', ''[[Leucospermum]]'', and ''[[Leucadendron]]'' are diploid organisms, thus they can freely hybridize with closely related species to form new cultivars. Unusually, not all the genera within the family Proteaceae can hybridize freely; for example, ''Leucadendron'' species cannot be crossed with ''Leucospermum'' species because of the difference in their haploid chromosome number (13 and 12, respectively). This [[genetic incompatibility]] results in pollinated flowers that yield either no fruit, or seedless fruit, as the resulting plant embryos, from the incompatible pollen and ovum, fail to develop.
<!--how-to Proteas are used for ornamental practices as [[cut flowers]] and for decoration, so some of the desirable traits a breeder is looking for during cultivation are flower size and colour etc. traits considered by breeders in the selection process for cultivation are long lasting bloom, flowering time, plant architecture, general appearance and adaptability. There are four main methods of selecting Protea flowers for further cultivation: Mass selection, Single plant clonal selection, Chance interspecific hybrid selection, Controlled-pollination interspecific hybrid selection.<ref name="auto1">(Littlejohn, G.M. (2002). Breeding Technology for Protea. Fynbos Research. Page 4)</ref>
 --><!-- how-to The four main methods for cultivating Protea plants are sexual reproduction (cultivation with seed). When Proteas are cultivated using seeds, the first step in the cultivation process is to disinfect the seeds by soaking in water maintained at 50&nbsp;°C for 30 minutes. The germination of the seeds will occur over a period of 14 to 28 days. The germinating seeds should be planted in a medium in pots before the developing roots are 10mm long. Another method for cultivation is vegetative propagation (cultivation with cuttings), which is used to obtain a large protea population of the same genotype. This cultivation method allows for the cultivation of hybrid protea plants without the loss of their unique characteristics. The other two cultivation methods include [[grafting]] and budding and micropropagation, referring to cultivation with tissue culture.
 -->

==Botanical history==
Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in the 17th century. Many species were introduced to Europe in the 18th century, enjoying a unique popularity at the time amongst botanists.

== Cultivation ==
Proteas are currently cultivated in over 20 countries. Cultivation is restricted to Mediterranean and subtropical climates.<ref>{{cite book |last=Malan |first=Gerhard |author-link= |date= 2012  |title=Protea cultivation from concept to carton |location=Stellenbosche, Western Cape, South Africa<!-- fr deep search on Google --> |publisher=Sun Media<!-- fr deep search --> |page=21 |isbn= 978-0-620-55300-1<!-- fr deep search on Google -->}}</ref> Three categories of traits have to be considered before developing a new cultivar. The yield or production capacity of the cultivar must be considered. The ease of handling and packaging of the cut stems and the last category is to consider the perceived market value of the cultivar.<ref name="BTfP">{{cite book |last=Littlejohn |first=G. M. |year=2002 |title=Breeding Technology for Protea |location=<!--not available--> |publisher=Fynbos Research |page=1 |isbn=<!--not available--> }}</ref> The cultivation of a ''Protea ''plant is time-consuming, so good planning when developing the cross combinations and goals are of great importance of the breeding programme.<ref name="BTfP"/>

==Classification==
Within the huge family [[Proteaceae]], they are a member of the subfamily Proteoideae, which has Southern African and Australian members.

==Species==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2013}}
[[File:Protea caffra IMG 2758.JPG|thumb|''Protea afra'', the common protea]]
{{Main|List of Protea species}}
(listed by section: a 'section' has a name in two parts, consisting of the genus name and an epithet).
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Leiocephalae''
**''[[Protea afra]]'' (common protea)
**''[[Protea dracomontana]]'' (Drakensberg sugarbush)
**''[[Protea glabra]]'' (Clanwilliam sugarbush)
**''[[Protea inopina]]'' (large-nut sugarbush)
**''[[Protea nitida]]'' (wagon tree)
**''[[Protea nubigena]]'' (cloud sugarbush)
**''[[Protea parvula]]'' (dainty sugarbush)
**''[[Protea petiolaris]]'' (sickle-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea rupicola]]'' (krantz sugarbush)
**''[[Protea simplex]]'' (dwarf [[grassland]] sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Paludosae''
**''[[Protea enervis]]'' (Chimanimani sugarbush)
[[File:Protea madiensis MHNT.BOT.2009.13.23.jpg|thumb|Dried head of ''P. madiensis'' shedding mature fruit]]

* ''Protea'' sect. ''Patentiflorae''
**''[[Protea angolensis]]'' (woodland sugarbush)
**''[[Protea comptonii]]'' (saddleback sugarbush)
**''[[Protea curvata]]'' (Barberton sugarbush)
**''[[Protea laetans]]'' (Blyde sugarbush)
**''[[Protea madiensis]]'' (tall woodland sugarbush)
**''[[Protea rubropilosa]]'' (Transvaal sugarbush)
**''[[Protea rupestris]]'' (rocket sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Lasiocephalae''
**''[[Protea gaguedi]]'' (African sugarbush)
**''[[Protea welwitschii]]'' (dwarf savanna sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Cristatae''
**''[[Protea asymmetrica]]'' (Inyanga sugarbush)
**''[[Protea wentzeliana]]'' (Wentzel's sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Protea''
**''[[Protea cynaroides]]'' (king protea)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Paracynaroides''
**''[[Protea cryophila]]'' (snow protea)
**''[[Protea pruinosa]]'' (frosted sugarbush)
**''[[Protea scabriuscula]]'' (hoary sugarbush)
**''[[Protea scolopendriifolia]]'' (Hart's tongue-fern sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Ligulatae''
**''[[Protea burchellii]]'' (Burchell's sugarbush)
**''[[Protea compacta]]'' (Bot River sugarbush)
**''[[Protea eximia]]'' (broad-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea longifolia]]'' (long-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea obtusifolia]]'' (limestone sugarbush)
**''[[Protea pudens]]'' (bashful sugarbush)
**''[[Protea roupelliae]]'' (silver sugarbush)
**''[[Protea susannae]]'' (stink-leaf sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Melliferae''
**''[[Protea aristata]]'' (Ladysmith sugarbush)
**''[[Protea lanceolata]]'' (Lance-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea repens]]'' (common sugarbush, Honey flower, Sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Speciosae''
**''[[Protea coronata]]'' (green sugarbush)
**''[[Protea grandiceps]]'' (red sugarbush)
**''[[Protea holosericea]]'' (saw-edge sugarbush)
**''[[Protea laurifolia]]'' (gray-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea lepidocarpodendron]]'' (black-beard sugarbush)
**''[[Protea lorifolia]]'' (strap-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea magnifica]]'' (queen sugarbush)
**''[[Protea neriifolia]]'' (oleander-leaf protea, narrow-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea speciosa]]'' (brown-beard sugarbush)
**''[[Protea stokoei]]'' (pink sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Exsertae''
**''[[Protea aurea]]'' (common shuttlecock sugarbush)
**''[[Protea lacticolor]]'' (Hottentot sugarbush)
**''[[Protea mundii]]'' (forest sugarbush)
**''[[Protea punctata]]'' (water sugarbush)
**''[[Protea subvestita]]'' (waterlily sugarbush)
**''[[Protea venusta]]'' (creeping beauty)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Microgeantae''
**''[[Protea acaulos]]'' (common ground sugarbush)
**''[[Protea convexa]]'' (large-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea laevis]]'' (smooth-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea revoluta]]'' (rolled-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea angustata]]'' (Kleinmond sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Crinitae''
**''[[Protea foliosa]]'' (leafy sugarbush)
**''[[Protea intonsa]]'' (tufted sugarbush)
**''[[Protea montana]]'' (Swartberg sugarbush)
**''[[Protea tenax]]'' (tenacious sugarbush)
**''[[Protea vogtsiae]]'' (Kouga sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Pinifolia''
**''[[Protea acuminata]]'' (blackrim sugarbush)
**''[[Protea canaliculata]]'' (groove-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea nana]]'' (mountain-rose sugarbush)
**''[[Protea pityphylla]]'' (Ceres sugarbush)
**''[[Protea scolymocephala]]'' (thistle sugarbush)
**''[[Protea witzenbergiana]]'' (swan sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Craterifolia''
**''[[Protea effusa]]'' (Marloth's sugarbush)
**''[[Protea namaquana]]'' (Kamiesberg sugarbush)
**''[[Protea pendula]]'' (arid sugarbush)
**''[[Protea recondita]]'' (hidden sugarbush)
**''[[Protea sulphurea]]'' (sulphur sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Obvallatae''
**''[[Protea caespitosa]]'' (bishop sugarbush)
* ''Protea'' sect. ''Subacaules''
**''[[Protea aspera]]'' (rough-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea denticulata]]'' (tooth-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea lorea]]'' (thong-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea piscina]]'' (Visgat sugarbush)
**''[[Protea restionifolia]]'' (reed-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea scabra]]'' (sandpaper-leaf sugarbush)
**''[[Protea scorzonerifolia]]'' (channel-leaf sugarbush)
<!-- off topic and how-to ==Hybrids==

A hybrid is defined as an offspring between two plants of different species or varieties. Inter- or intraspecific hybridization is used in the cultivation of flowers to improve the qualities including bract colour, flowering time and disease resistance. Intraspecific hybridization refers to a hybrid between different genotypes of the same species whereas interspecific hybridization refers to the progeny between two different species of the same genus. Hybrid flowers are more adaptable to different environments than the pure species, this is why the cultivation of hybrids are preferred. Hybridization of protea flowers is common amongst the genus ''[[Leucadendron]]'' to produce unique set of characteristics to meet the market requirements and thus increases market exports and changes the market trend.<ref name="auto1"/> It is often difficult to identify hybrids from a population based on morphological features, because of the resemblance the species show towards the parent plants. For this reason molecular markers such as [[RAPD]], [[Amplified fragment length polymorphism|AFLP]],  or microsatellite markers and PCR-RFLP are useful in identifying hybrid plants.<ref>(Blomerus, Joshua and Williams, 2010)</ref> Another common hybrid is the Protea emixia which is cultivated to flower during the spring and summer months and thus provides cut flowers for export to the Northern Hemisphere.<ref name="auto"/> The hybridization of proteas is usually started by covering the inflorescence of the female plant with a plastic bag to exclude external sources of pollination. After two days the unopened flowers are removed from the inflorescence leaving approximately 40 to 60 opened flowers. The pollen is then hand applied using a brush and the inflorescence is covered again.<ref>(Coetzee et al. (2007) “Proteaceous Ornamentals” ISHS: Scripta Horticulture (5): 89-90)</ref>-->

== References ==
{{Reflist| 30em }}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.proteaatlas.org.za Protea Atlas Project]: a project to map the distribution of South African plant species, using ''Protea'' as a flagship.
*[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Tree&id=4331&lvl=3&p=mapview&p=has_linkout&p=blast_url&p=genome_blast&lin=f&keep=1& ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser]
*[https://biodiversityexplorer.info/plants/proteaceae/protea.htm Photographs of flowers from many species of Protea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815150448/http://www.biodiversityexplorer.info/plants/proteaceae/protea.htm |date=2020-08-15 }}
{{Proteaceae genera}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q227822}}

[[Category:Protea| ]]
[[Category:Proteaceae genera]]
[[Category:Flora of the Afrotropical realm]]