Protea stokoei E.Phillips

An erect shrub to 2 m in height with a single main trunk. Stems upright, sparingly branched, 5-8 mm in diam., covered with a soft shaggy indumentum at first, becoming glabrous later. Leaves ascending, imbricate, obovate to very broadly obovate 70-120 mm long, 30-50 mm wide, sessile; apices obtuse to rounded; pubescent at first, margins villous-arachnoid, soon becoming quite glabrous. Inflorescences oblong, 90-130 mm long, 50-70 mm wide. Involucral receptacle convex, acute, 20-25 mm in diam., 10 mm high. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate, covered with a closely adpressed, densely sericeous, indumentum; outer series ovate-obtuse 20-30 mm long, 15-25 mm wide, margins densely fimbriate with dense brown trichomes at apex; inner series oblong to oblong-spathulate 70-90 mm long, 15-25 mm wide, apices of innermost series, rounded, concave and incurved, very prominently fimbriate with dense brown beards 5-7 mm long. Perianth straight, 80-90 mm long; tube region glabrous, 20 mm long; claws slender, puberulous; limbs quadrangular, 15 mm long, puberulous, with a few long, dark purple trichomes interspersed, the three limbs of the adaxial perianth sheath prolonged into 3 very prominent, densely villous, outwardly curled awns, 10-12 mm long, abaxial limb densely villous and acuminate at apex but not prolonged into a prominent awn. Anthers 4, linear-filiform, 7-8 mm long, filaments 2 mm long. Style 65-70 mm long, slightly adaxially arcuate, ancipitous, glabrous, but minutely puberulous proximally. Pollen presenter 6 mm long, linear, not clearly differentiated from style. Ovary obconic, 3 mm long, covered with straight, 15 mm long, tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales 1 mm long, ovate.