Protea pudens Rourke

A sprawling procumbent shrub up to 1 m in diam., to 400 mm in height, with a single main stem producing suberect to prostrate branches often trailing along the ground. Stems 3-5 mm in diam., densely and cinerously puberulous initially, becoming glabrous. Leaves linear to very narrowly linear-spathulate, 60-140 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, length variable on same shoot, glabrous but margins occasionally ciliate; secund to subsecund, subfalciform to straight. Inflorescence cam-panulate, 50-80 mm long, 30-60 mm wide. Involucral receptacle conic-depressed 10-20 mm wide, 5-10 mm high. Involucral bracts 4-5 seriate, outer series broadly ovate-obtuse, 6-10 mm wide, 6-10 mm long, glabrous but margins ciliate; inner series ovate-oblong, acute to narrowly oblong-acute to lanceolate usually glabrous but innermost series occasionally minutely sericeous. Perianth straight, 40-60 mm long, densely villous except for tube region; tube 5-8 mm long, glabrous, quadrangular; claws very densely villous, the inner lips of the perianth claws also densely villous, indementum white; the three adaxial perianth claws 5-8 mm long prolonged into 10-18 mm long, densely plumed awns, white proximally but with purple-black indumentum distally, the median adaxial awn markedly shorter than the two lateral awns, anthers 3, fertile; the free abaxial perianth limb subulate, densely villous with white indumentum anther reduced to a staminode. Style 30-45 mm long, straight to very slightly adaxially arcuate, swollen, ancipitous and puberulous proximally, tapering, becoming terete and glabrous distally. Pollen presenter 5-7 mm long, slender, curved, prominently geniculate at junction with style, apex capitellate. Ovary obconic, 5 mm long, covered with 20 mm long, straight, tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales narrowly ovate, 1.5 mm long. Flowering seems to be correlated with the onset of the winter rains, commencing in May and continuing until September, reaching a peak in July and August.