Protea lepidocarpodendron L.

An erect, upright shrub 2-3 m in height with a single main stem. Branches straight 5-7 mm wide, puberulous at first, soon glabrous. Leaves ascending, narrowly oblong 80-130 mm long, 10-20 mm wide, glabrous at maturity, apices acute to rounded, occasionally mucronate; base sessile usually truncate to auriculate, very occasionally tapering; margins prominent, horny. Inflorescences oblong 90-110 mm long, 50-60 mm wide, tending to be concealed by surrounding leaves. Involucral receptacle concave but raised in centre, 10 mm in diam. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate, outer surface sericeous; outer series ovate-acute, 8-10 mm wide, 10-15 mm long; very densely silvery-sericeous, margins thickly ciliate; inner series oblong to linear-spathulate, apices of the innermost series very broadly spathulate and rounded, beset with a dense purple-black beard, fringed with long white trichomes, the black pubescence extending 20-30 mm down the outer surface then becoming sparsely silvery-pubescent proximally. Perianth straight, 70-80 mm long, silvery sericeous except for glabrous tube region; tube quadrangular, ribbed, glabrous, 7-9 mm long, merging imperceptibly with the slender sericeous claws; limbs linear, the free abaxial limb subulate, 10 mm long with anther reduced to a staminode, the 3 adaxial limbs 15-20 mm long, prominently awned, central awn shorter than the two laterals, limbs sparsely sericeous to glabrescent but the awns densely pubescent with thick white secund brushes. Anthers 3, linear, subsessile. Style 60-65 mm long, straight, ancipitous, puberulous but becoming glabrous distally. Pollen presenter prominently geniculate at junction with style, 8-10 mm long, apex minutely hooked and capitellate. Ovary obconic 3 mm long, covered with straight tawny hairs. Hypogynous scales 1 mm long, broadly ovate. Flowering takes place in late autumn and winter. June is usually the peak of the flowering season but open flower-heads can be found as early as April or as late as August.