II.
PROTEA ACUIFOLIA
Needle-leaved Protea.
ORDO NATURALIS.
Proteæ. Juss. Gen. p. 78.
Bractea 1 sub singulis floribus, involucro aliarum majorum sæpe cinctis. Corolla varie 4-fida, laciniis apice liberis vel cohærentibus, persistens. Pericarpium crustaceum, 1-loculare, 1-spermum, deciduum, usque in germinationem clausum. Genus procul dubio dividendum; folio simplicia decompositaque, flores diclines hermaphroditosque, ut taceam differentias bractearum, nunc conjungens.
* Folia simplicia, integerrina
P. foliis sublinearibus, teretiusculis, mucronatis, punctatis; fascicalis cernuis; bracteis involucre exquisite ciliatis.
P. nana. Thunb. Diss. n. 29. P. rosacea. 'Linn Mant. p. 189, Leucadendron nanum. Berg. Pl. Cap. p. 22. Conophoros capensis Pini folio. Pet. Gas. p.40. f.25 f. 7.
Sponte nascentem in Roodesand, montibus, legit C. P. Thunberg.
Floret a Septembri, in Decembrem.
There is no figure of this species but Petiver’s imperfect engraving; it was communicated by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, whose liberality in giving specimens of their rarest plants to Botanists does them so much honour. The outer bractes are disposed into a very regular rose, and constitute the chief beauty of the flower, which has no smell; their margin is ciliated with very short white hairs. Corolla towards the top covered with brown hairs. Style long, and standing out from the centre towards the bractes. It flowers here, as at the Cape of Good Hope, from the latter end of Spring to the middle of Summer, and may be propagated by cuttings planted in sandy loam, under a bell glass, during the months of May and June.
