Protea subvestita N.E.Br.

A large upright bushy shrub or small tree, 2-5 m tall, with a single main trunk to 300 mm in diam. Stems densely cinereously villous initially, blackening and becoming glabrous later. Leaves ascending-imbricate, narrowly to broadly elliptic or oblanceolate, 50-110 mm long, 15-35 mm wide, densely shaggy-villous to lanate initially, pubescence sloughing off in patches, later becoming quite glabrous, tapering in petiolar region, apices acute to subacute. Inflorescences oblong, opening to very narrowly obconic, 55-70 mm long, 30-40 mm in diam. Involucral receptacle flat to concave, 10-15 mm in diam. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate, outer surface adpressed-sericeous to glabrescent; outer series ovate to broadly ovate-acute, 10-15 mm long, 7-10 mm wide, tightly imbricate, margins ciliate; inner series oblong, imbricate, 35-40 mm long, 8-12 mm wide, apices rounded, usually lightly bearded with long white silky cilia; apices of inner bracts turning outwards and almost recurving in fresh state. Perianth 50-60 mm long, straight, slender; tube region quadrangular, 8-10 mm long, glabrous proximally becoming ferruginously pilose distally, merging imperceptibly with the filiform ferruginously pilose claws; limbs linear acute, 10 mm long, very sparsely pilose to glabrous but apices prominently crinite with silky, wavy hairs. Style straight, 55-60 mm long, glabrous, terete. Pollen presenter linear-filiform, geniculate at junction with style, apex minutely capitellate; styles curving outwards at anthesis. Anthers 4, sessile. Ovary obconic, 3 mm long, covered with 10 mm long, straight tawny trichomes. Hypogynous scales lanceolate, acute, 2 mm long. Flowering is dependent on aspect, elevation and locality, but generally commences in December, reaching a peak between January and March, with odd blooms persisting as late as June.