Protea flower shot in the Dragons berg cover photo - 159782806

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Proteas can survive wildfires Dormant buds survive the wildfires that so often clear the dry Cape land, only to emerge once the fire has gone out. The king protea protea cynaroides took the title of South Africaâ€™s national flower in 1976 The king protea, so called because of its resemblance to a crown, is the largest of all proteas and is found in the Cape Floristic region. The flower appears on South African birth certificates and passports, as well as on the South African 5-Rand coin, and the Proteas, South Africaâ€™s cricket team, also took its name from the genus. Proteas made their way to Europe The first reference to a protea was found in a book published in Antwerp in 1605, but botanists only officially introduced the plants to Europe in the 1700s. The protea family is large and diverse With over 1500 species, proteas come in different shapes and sizes, from shrubs to tall trees. Proteas are also known as sugarbushes, due to the excessive amount of nectar the flowers produce. The protea was named and classified in the 1700s The name â€œproteaâ€ was inspired by Greek mythology Proteas are named after Proteus, son of Poseidon and shape-shifter, highlighting the variety of plants found within the large Proteaceae family. Proteas date back millions of years Dating back approximately 300 million years, proteas are considered to be among the oldest families of flowering plants on the planet.

africa back berg blurred cape dragons flower gound pink protea proteaceae shot south sugarbush