Protea decurrens E.Phillips

A small, erect, bushy shrublet 400-600 mm tall, up to 500 mm in diam., the stems arising from a woody base. Stems erect, glabrous, 1.5-3 mm m diam. Leaves glabrous, ascending, linear, 35-90 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat to very slightly canaliculate, prominently decurrent at base, apices acute to mucronate. Inflorescences axillary, clustered along basal branches; prominently pedunculate, ovoid in bud, becoming shallowly crateriform on opening, 30-50 mm in diam. Involucral receptacle convex, 10-15 mm 'n diam. Involucral bracts 4-5 seriate, softly silvery to ferruginously puberulous; outer series tightly imbricate, ovate obtuse, 4-10 mm long, 4-8 mm wide; inner series broadly oblong-spathulate, widely splayed at anthesis, 20-30 mm long, 6-12 mm wide, apices concave, incurved and rounded, margins ciliate. Perianth 20-30 mm long, adaxially curved; tube.and claws undifferentiated, glabrous, becoming abruptly narrowed distally; limbs elliptic, sharply adaxially curved, 3-5 mm long, glabrous to pilose. Anthers 4, sessile. Style curved adaxially almost at right angles, 30-35 mm long, broadened and ancipitous proximally, tapering and terete distally. Pollen presenter linear-acute, 5 mm long, slightly geniculate at junction with style. Ovary obconic, 5 mm long covered with 10 mm long tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales subulate-filiform 2-3 mm long. Flowering occurs from the end of winter until early spring, usually in July and August, with late blooms persisting until October.