Protea cordata Thunb.

Low upright, shrublet to 500 mm tall and 300 mm in diam., with a small woody base at ground level, from which several, usually unbranched stems, arise. Stems erect to very slightly drooping, 2-6 mm in diam., glabrous, reddish flushed, with several lanceolate-acute, brown, glabrous, papyraceous scale leaves proximally; becoming flexuose distally and bearing foliage leaves of decreasing size towards dormant apex. Leaves sessile, cordate, 20-160 mm wide, 30-140 mm long, patent, surface glabrous, often glaucous. Inflorescences axillary, clustered at base of stems, prominently pedunculate, ovoid in bud, becoming shallowly crateriform on opening, 40-50 mm in diam. Involucral receptacle convex, 12-15 mm in diam. Involucral bracts 4-5 seriate-, loosely imbricate, brown and papyraceous; outer series lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate-acute, 8-10 mm long, 3-5 mm wide; inner series loosely imbricate and widely splayed, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, acute to obtuse, 25-40 mm long, 12-15 mm wide, usually glabrous but occasionally minutely ferruginously puberulous towards apices. Perianth 20-25 mm long, adaxially curved; tube and claws undifferentiated, glabrous, becoming abruptly narrowed distally; limbs strongly adaxially curved, broadly elliptic, 3-4 mm long, glabrous but occasionally minutely setose at apex. Style 28-30 mm long, cygneous to very strongly adaxially curved, glabrous, broadened and ancipitous proximally, terete and tapering distally. Pollen presenter linear-obtuse, 3 mm long. Anthers 4, sessile, 3 mm long. Ovary narrowly obconic, 5 mm long, covered with 12 mm long tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales 2 mm long, subulate. Flowering actually takes place in mid-winter, during June and July, when the heads open, revealing white perianths with bright red limbs.