Protea laetans L.E.Davidson

Slender, erect tree, 2-5 m tall, usually with 2-6 stems arising from a lignotuber, occasionally with a single main trunk, 50-150 mm in diam.; sparsely branched, the lower branches devoid of leaves; bark grey, becoming black and reticulately fissured with age. Stems glabrous 7-10 mm in diam., the leaves clustered on the ultimate and penultimate growth increments. Leaves subsessile, narrowly oblanceolate to oblanceolate, occasionally subfalcate, 100-200 mm long, 15-35 mm wide, tapering in the petiolar region; apices acute to subacute; coriaceous, glabrous, glaucous, with a fine yellow margin. Inflorescence shallowly cyathiform at anthesis, 80-100 mm in diam.; stipitate, stipe 10-25 mm long, covered with small, tightly imbricate, sericeous to subsericeous scales. Involucral receptacle flat, 15-20 mm in diam. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate, deep carmine, particularly on inner surface; outer series very broadly ovate, acute, 7-12 mm long, 8-15 mm wide, densely sericeous with a fine silvery or tawny-ferruginous indumentum, tightly imbricate; inner series loosely arranged, oblong, 15-20 mm long, apices rounded, concave slightly incurved covered with a silvery sericeous or rufous indumentum except along the glabrous, scarious margins. Perianth straight in bud, 50-60 mm long; tube 15-20 mm long, glabrous externally, and prominently ridged, glabrous internally but sericeous along the inner distal lips of tube; claws short, filiform; limbs broadening abruptly, linear, acute, 20 mm long, very densely velutinous to tomentose with a tawny to ferruginous indumentum. Anthers 4, subsessile, 12-15 mm long. Style slightly adaxially arcuate, 50-55 mm long, glabrous. Pollen presenter filiform, 10 mm long, not clearly differentiated from style; longitudinally grooved. Ovary obconic, 5 mm long, covered with long, straight, tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales ovate-acute, 1.5 mm long. Essentially autumn flowering, the first inflorescence buds begin opening towards the end of March though the peak of the flowering period is in April and May.