Protea magnifica Andrews

An erect, suberect or sprawling shrub, 0.5-2.5 mm height, 2-4 m in diam., with a single stout main stem. Flowering stems heavy, 7-15 mm in diam., densely villous when young, soon glabrescent. Leaves variable, oblong-elliptic, broadly lanceolate, or oblanceolate, 10-21 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, sessile to subpetiolate, heavily coriaceous, glaucous and glabrous at maturity, villous when young becoming glabrescent later but often with pubescence persisting along margins; plane or undulate with horny margins red to amber yellow; apex rounded to acute often mucronate, midrib prominent. Inflorescence narrowly campanulate at anthesis becoming broadly cyathiform at maturity, often with the involucral bracts widely splayed; 9-14 cm long, 5-8 cm wide, expanding up to 15 cm in diam. at maturity. Involucral receptacle slightly convex to conic-obtuse, 3-4 cm in diam. Involucral bracts 6-8 seriate; outer bracts ovate to broadly ovate, obtuse to acute, 1-1.2 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, sericeous, apices darkening along margins, recurving, tipped with a dense lanate beard, white, brown or black, margins ciliate; inner bracts oblong-spathulate to narrowly oblong, 8-10 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, sericeous, terminating in a soft recurved point of lanate pubescence, white, black or brown. Perianth 7-12 cm long, quadrangular, straight; glabrous in tube region but becoming puberulous distally; claws densely puberulous to villous on outer surface, sparsely puberulous on inner surface; limbs villous, but adaxial limb glabrous to glabrescent, limbs of the perianth sheath prolonged into three attenuate awns (middle awn shorter), densely lanate, white, usually becoming black or brown at apex. Anthers 3, subsessile, each with a prominent saggitate apical boss; adaxial anther reduced to a staminode. Style 6-7 cm long, ancipitous proximally, tapering and becoming subterete terminally, upper third glabrous, lower two-thirds puberulous. Pollen-presenter 7-10 mm long, very prominently geniculate, linear-acute, triangular in section, stigmatic groove terminal. Ovary obconic 5 mm long, covered with long straight, tawny-brown hairs. Hypogynous scales 1 mm long, broadly ovate. Flowering takes place over six months or more, from June to January, but is very dependent on such factors as elevation and microclimate as well as probable genetic differences in local races. Populations at lower levels, particularly those on the Riviersonderend and Houwhoek mountains, commence flowering as early as June. On the other hand, in the Cedarberg and Cold Bokkeveld, flowering begins in September, continuing until December and January.