Protea venusta Compton

A sprawling to prostrate shrub with a single main stem, forming large mats up to 3 m in diam., occasionally producing erect, upright branches up to 70 cm high. Stems procumbent, trailing, 5-7 mm in diam., sparsely puberulous at first, soon glabrous. Leaves usually subsecund to secund, on trailing stems, ascending on erect stems; oblanceolate to broadly oblanceolate, 25-60 mm long, 8-20 mm wide, tapering to a narrow, often twisted petiolar region, apex acute, occasionally apicu-late; puberulous at first, soon glabrous and slightly glaucous. Inflorescence cam-panulate, 50-70 mm long, 80-100 mm in diam. when open. Involucral receptacle flat to convex, 20-30 mm wide. Involucral bracts 5-6 seriate; outer series tightly imbricate, often foliaceous, 7-15 mm long, 7-12 mm wide, apices oval to rounded, margins brown, surface softly puberulous; inner series loosely imbricate, broadly oblong to oblong-spathulate, 40-50 mm long, 8-18 mm wide, apices rounded, thickly fimbriate, outer surface sericeous in patches, otherwise glabrescent. Perianth straight, 55-65 mm long; tube 8-10 mm long, glabrous; claws filiform, pilose; limbs linear, scarcely differentiated from claws, 12-14 mm long, adpressed pilose but apex densely crinite with long silvery hairs. Anthers 4, subsessile, linear-filiform, 10 mm long. Style straight, 55 mm long, terete, glabrous. Pollen presenter filiform, 8 mm long, scarcely differentiated from style. Ovary obconic, 3-5 mm long, covered with long, straight tawny hairs. Hypogynous scales 1.5-2 mm long, ovate, occasionally bifid. The peak of the flowering season is reached in January and February although inflorescences will continue to open well into March.