Protea glabra Thunb.

Multiple stemmed shrub of tree-like proportions but fastigiate habit, 2 to 5 m in height with numerous upright stems developing from a large rootstock or trunk up to 300 mm in diam. Stems stout, 5-8 mm in diam., glabrous, often flushed carmine. Leaves ascending, elliptic to broadly elliptic, oblanceolate or oval, 40-75 mm long, 15-30 mm wide, apices acute occasionally obtuse, tapering in petiolar region and occasionally forming a distinct petiolule up to 7 mm long; glabrous, glaucous, coriaceous. Inflorescence cylindric in bud but oval to globose on opening, 70-120 mm in diam., the bracts becoming widely patent and the floral parts apparently everted, projecting prominently beyond the bracts. Involucral receptacle very prominent, conic, acute, 15 mm in diam., 20-25 mm high. Involucral bracts 4-5 seriate, outer series tightly imbricate, ovate-acute 8-10 mm wide, 6-10 mm long, glabrous to ferruginously puberulous, margins scarious, often ciliate; inner series narrowly to broadly oblong, 6-15 mm wide, 25-35 mm long, apices slightly concave-incurved, obtuse to rounded, outer surface glabrescent to sparsely ferruginously puberulous, margins often densely ferruginously fimbriate. Perianth 35-50 mm long, straight to slightly incurved; tube region 5-8 mm long, glabrous, claws slender, hyaline, glabrous; limbs linear-acuminate, 15 mm long, covered with a dense white velutinous indumentum, apices densely ferruginously crinite. Anthers 4, subsessile. Style 40-50 mm long, straight, glabrous. Pollen presenter filiform 10 mm long, not clearly differentiated from style. Ovary obconic, 5 mm long, covered with 15 mm long straight trichomes, whitish to pale golden. Hypogynous scales ovate, 2 mm long, white and fleshy, very prominent. Flowering takes place between July and November, though principally during August and September.