Protea scabriuscula E.Phillips

A low, rounded shrublet, 0.5-0.7 m in diam., up to 0.5 m in height, forming a dense, compact mound of tightly interlocking, repeatedly dichotomous branches, arising from a single main stem. Leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate, occasionally oblanceolate, 150-250 mm long, 5-15 (rarely up to 20) mm wide; margins horny, usually prominently undulate, rarely flat, tapering basally to form a distinct petiole; midrib usually raised; surface sparsely villous initially, soon glabrescent to glabrous, becoming slightly scabrous with age. Inflorescence pyriform in bud, becoming obconic-campanulate on opening, 40-60 mm long, 30-40 mm in diam., the perianths projecting beyond the involucral bracts in bud; surrounded at base by several dark brown, loosely arranged, narrowly lanceolate, glabrous scales. Involucral receptacle concave, 15 mm in diam. Involucral bracts tightly imbricate, 5-6 seriate; outer series lanceolate, acute to acuminate 10-15 mm l°ng> 5 mm wide; inner series narrowly lanceolate to linear, acute to acuminate, 20 mm long, 2-3 mm wide; covered with a dense white lanate indumentum but glabrescent distally and flushed with dull carmine. Perianth straight in bud, 40-45 mm long, tube, claws and limbs of more or less equal diam., tube region 8 mm long, hyaline, glabrous; claws densely villous to lanate with white trichomes on inner surface and on outer margins; limbs linear-acute, 7 mm long, villous, apices densely crinite. Style 30-35 mm long, flattened in vertical plane proximally, 1-2 mm broad; abruptly tapering to terete terminally. Pollen presenter 6-7 mm long, linear-filiform, scarcely differentiated from style, carmine. Ovary obconic, 2-3 mm long, covered with long white straight trichomes. Hypogynous scales 2 mm long, oblong-acute. Between October and January, but mainly in early December, the flower-heads are produced, concealed and half-buried in a mass of tightly interlocking branchlets and leaf bases.