Protea holosericea (salisb. ex Knight) Rourke

Suberect to erect, sprawling shrub to 1.2 m in height, up to 2 m in diam., with a single main stem. Branches 10 mm in diam., densely tomentose at first, later glabrous. Leaves elliptic, 90-50 mm long, 15-30 mm wide, villous-puberulous at first becoming glabrescent to glabrous later, heavily coriaceous, margins horny, often undulate, apices acute, mucronate; glaucous. Inflorescences ovoid to broadly obconic, 60-80 mm in diam. Involucral receptacle 20-25 mm wide, 10 mm high. Involucral bracts 7-8 seriate, pale creamy-yellow overlaid with a densely sericeous indumentum, the margins very densely bearded; outer series ovate, obtuse to rounded, 10-15 mm long, 10 mm wide, margins densely fringed with deep purple-black beards but brownish beards on the lowermost series; inner series oblong, 20-50 mm long, 10-15 mm wide, apices rounded, densely fringed with deep purple-black beards. Perianth straight, 45-55 mm long; tube 7 mm long, prominently winged, glabrous proximally, becoming sericeous distally; claws slender, covered with a white villous indumentum; limbs linear, 10 mm long, the abaxial limb sericeous externally, crinite, acuminate, not awned; the adaxial limbs medianly glabrous on outer surface prolonged into two, 10 mm long tomentose awns, white to purple proximally, black distally, median awn much reduced. Anthers 4, subsessile. Style 45-50 mm long, adaxially arcuate, broad and ancipitously flattened above ovary, tapering terminally and becoming terete, minutely puberulous but upper third glabrous. Pollen presenter outwardly curved, slender, acute, geniculate at junction with style, 8 mm long. Ovary obovoid, 5 mm long, covered with long, straight, tawny hairs. Hypogynous scales ovate, acute, 1 mm long.