Protea montana E.Mey. ex Meisn.

A low prostrate shrub forming dense procumbent mats, 0.5-4 m in diameter; up to 20 cm in height; main stem single from which arise numerous stout, procumbent, highly divaricate branches, spreading along surface of substratum. Flowering stems 3-7 mm in diameter; minutely to sparsely sericeous, soon glabrous. Leaves densely subsecund to secund, rarely ascending; sub-falcate to straight; acicular-linear to very narrowly linear-spathulate, 4-10 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, semi-terete to plane, apices acute to pungent; minutely sericeous, becoming glabrescent to glabrous. Inflorescences ovoid to globose, cyathiform on opening, 3-5 cm in diameter; overtopped and almost concealed by surrounding leaves. Involucral receptacle concave, rounded, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter; seated on a prominent turbinate base. Involucral bracts 4-5 seriate; outer surface sparsely sericeous; inner series oblong-spathulate to spathulate, concave and rounded at apex 3.5-4 cm long, 6-10 mm wide; outer series oblong ovate to ovate, obtuse to acute, 1-2 cm long, 1-1.5 cm wide, the apices of the outermost bracts prolonged into long acicular-acuminate, foliaceous appendages, 0.5-3 cm long. Perianth 3-4 cm long, straight in bud. Adaxial perianth sheath and abaxial perianth claw hyaline, pubescent on outer surface with a tawny villous indumentum proximally, above tube region; tube region 7-10 mm long, glabrous, but with a tawny villous indumentum distally; limbs 1 cm long, linear, acuminate, partially or wholly covered with a white lanate indumentum becoming very densely lanate at apices. Anthers 4, linear 7-8 mm long, terminating in an ovoid boss. Style straight to slightly adaxially arcuate 2.5-3.5 cm long tapering terminally, laterally compressed. Pollen presenter linear-acute scarcely differentiated from style, 5-6 mm long. Ovary obovoid, 3-4 mm long, covered with long tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales irregularly oblong-ovate 2 mm long. Flowering takes place mainly between February and June.