Protea laevis R.Br.

A prostrate decumbent shrublet with horizontally spreading stems; forming loose mats or clumps up to 800 mm in diam. Stems horizontally spreading above soil surface, 3-5 mm in diam., glabrous. Leaves secund, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly oblong, 70-300 mm long, 6-35 mm wide, flat, tapering and usually winged in petiolar region, apices acute to mucronate; glabrous, usually glaucous. Inflorescences borne at ground level, spherical on opening, 40-70 mm in diam. becoming shallowly crateriform when fully open. Involucral receptacle broadly conic-acute, 12-20 mm in diam., 15-20 mm high. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate, glaucous on outer surface (margins only very rarely minutely ciliate); outer series tightly imbricate, ovate-obtuse, papyraceous, 5-10 mm long, 5-10 mm wide; inner series ovate-oblong to oblong-spathulate, widely splayed on opening, 25-35 mm long, 5-12 mm wide, apices rounded, concave, incurved. Perianth 20-30 mm long, very strongly adaxially curved; tube 8-10 mm long, inflated, quadrangular, glabrous; narrowing abruptly into the adaxially deflected claws, thickly fimbriate on inner surfaces and margins; limbs linear-elliptic, acute, 7-10 mm long, sparsely setose. Anthers 4, sessile. Style very strongly adaxially curved, almost at right angles, 28-35 mm long, broad and ancipitous proximally, tapering and terete distally, glabrous. Pollen presenter scarcely differentiated from style, linear acute, 7-8 mm long. Ovary narrowly obconic, 5 mm long, covered with 12 mm long, straight, tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales lanceolate acute, 2 mm long. Flowering takes place mainly from September to November, but at very high altitudes, freshly opened flower-heads can be found as late as February.