Protea acuminata Sims

An erect rounded shrub, 1-2 m in height, up to 1.5 m in diam. with a single main stem up to 300 mm in diam. Stems 2-3 mm in diam., glabrous, reddish-glaucescent. Leaves ascending, overlapping the inflorescences, linear-spathulate to narrowly linear, 60-120 mm long, 5-8 mm wide, attenuated to a petiolar region at base, apices mucronate to acuminate; flat, glabrous, glaucescent, turning black on drying. Inflorescence globose, 25-35 mm in diam. Involucral receptacle concave, 10 mm wide, 5 mm high. Involucral bracts 4 seriate, glabrous, wine-red, the margins darkening; outer series tightly imbricate, ovate-acute, 5-10 mm long, 5-8 mm wide; inner series oblong-spathulate incurved, 15-25 mm long, 4-10 mm wide, apices rounded, concave. Perianth 20-25 mm long, strongly adaxially curved; tube region 8 mm long, glabrous, ridged, merging imperceptibly with the glabrous claws; limbs, 5 mm long, elliptic-acute, slightly adaxially deflected, sparsely setose with tawny bristles. Anthers linear-6 mm long, sessile. Style strongly adaxially arcuate, 20 mm long, glabrous or with a ridge of tawny bristles on distal adaxial surface, ancipitous proximally tapering and tapering terminally. Pollen presenter linear, 4 mm long, clearly^ differentiated from style. Ovary 2 mm long, obconic, covered with 10 mm long, tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales ovate, 1 mm long. Flowering reaches a peak in late winter during July and August but commences as early as June and continues into September.