Editing Protea cynaroides

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use South African English|date = September 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 18 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Rebelo, A.G. |author2=Mtshali, H. |author3=von Staden, L. |date=2020 |title=''Protea cynaroides'' |volume=2020 |page=e.T113204772A157948114 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T113204772A157948114.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}</ref>
| image = Protea cynaroides 3.jpg
| genus = Protea
| species = cynaroides
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) L.
| range_map = {{maplink|frame=yes|frame-align=center|plain=yes|from=King protea range.map}}
| range_map_caption = IUCN range
{{leftlegend|#e74059|Extant (resident)}}
| range_map2 = Dist Map P Cynaroides 3.jpg
| synonyms = *''Scolymocephalus cynaroides'' (L.) Kuntze 
*''Erodendrum cynariflorum'' Knight 
*''Protea cyclophylla'' (Gand.) Gand. & Schinz 
*''Protea eriolepis'' (Gand.) Gand. & Schinz 
*''Protea petiolata'' H.Buek ex Meisn. 
*''Protea woodwardii'' Endl.
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = "POWO, 2023">{{cite POWO |id=705744-1 |title=''Protea cynaroides'' L. |accessdate=28 July 2023}}</ref>
}}

'''''Protea cynaroides''''', also called the '''king protea''' (from {{langx|af|koningsprotea}}, {{langx|xh|isiQwane sobukumkani}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=king protea|page=88|dictionary=The Agricultural Trilingual Dictionary |editor-first=Liezl|editor-last=Potgieter|publisher=Western Cape Department of Agriculture|year=2019|isbn=978-0-9947024-2-5}}</ref>), is a [[flowering plant]]. It is a distinctive member of ''[[Protea]]'', having the largest [[head (botany)|flower head]] in the genus. The species is also known as '''giant protea''', '''honeypot''' or '''king sugar bush'''. It is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of [[South Africa]] in the [[fynbos]] region.

The king protea is the national flower<ref name="flower">{{cite web |url=http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/flower.htm |title=About government - National flower |work=South African Government Information |publisher=Government Communications (GCIS) |date=28 November 2007 |access-date=14 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926212958/http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/symbols/flower.htm |archive-date=26 September 2011 }}</ref> of [[South Africa]]. It also is the flagship of the Protea Atlas Project, run by the South African National Botanical Institute.

The king protea has several colour forms and horticulturists have recognized 81 garden varieties, some of which have injudiciously been planted in its natural range. In some varieties the pink of the flower and red borders of leaves are replaced by a creamy yellow. This unusual flower has a long [[vase life]] in flower arrangements, and makes for an excellent dried flower.

''Protea cynaroides'' is adapted to survive wildfires by its thick underground stem, which contains many dormant buds; these will produce the new growth after the fire.

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Protea cynaroides (L.) L.jpg|thumb|left|''Protea cynaroides'' from The botanist, vol. 4: t. 166 (1840)]]
''Protea cynaroides'' is a species of [[Protea]] in the huge family [[Proteaceae]]. The family comprises about 80 [[genera]] with about 1,600 [[species]]. It has [[Gondwana]]n distribution, which means that it is mainly spread across the Southern Hemisphere, from [[Southern Africa]], across to [[Australia]], to [[South America]], although certain species are also found in equatorial Africa, [[India]], southern Asia and [[Oceania]]<ref name="Flora of Australia">{{cite book | editor-last = Orchard |editor-first = Anthony E. | title = Flora of Australia, Volume 16: Elaeagnaceae, Proteaceae 1 | url = http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/flora/main/ | chapter = Proteaceae | chapter-url = http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/online-resources/flora/stddisplay.xsql?pnid=1893 | location = Melbourne | publisher = Australian Biological Resources Study / CSIRO Publishing | access-date = 15 August 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061031204609/http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/flora/main/ | archive-date = 31 October 2006 | url-status = dead }}</ref> as well.

''Protea cynaroides'' is further placed within the subfamily [[Proteoideae]], which is found mainly in Southern Africa.  This subfamily is defined as those species having [[cluster root]]s, solitary [[ovule]]s and indehiscent fruits. Proteoideae is further divided into four tribes: '''Conospermeae''', '''Petrophileae''', '''[[Proteae]]''' and '''Leucadendreae'''.<ref name="Weston 2006">{{cite journal |author1=Weston, Peter H. |author2=Barker, Nigel P. | year = 2006 | title = A new suprageneric classification of the Proteaceae, with an annotated checklist of genera | journal = Telopea | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 314–344|doi=10.7751/telopea20065733 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The genus ''Protea'', and hence ''P. cynaroides'', is placed under the tribe Proteae.

===Etymology===
The name of the plant family Proteaceae as well as the genus ''Protea'', both to which ''P. cynaroides'' belongs to, derive from the name of the Greek god [[Proteus]], a deity that was able to change between many forms. This is an appropriate image, seeing as both the family and the genus are known for their astonishing variety and diversity of flowers and leaves.

The specific epithet ''cynaroides'' refers to the artichoke-like appearance of the flower-heads: the artichoke belongs to the genus ''[[Cynara]]''.

==Description==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
''P. cynaroides'' is a woody shrub with thick stems and large dark green, glossy leaves. Most plants are one metre in height when mature, but may vary according to locality and habitat from {{convert|0.35|to|2|m}} in height. The "flowers" of ''P. cynaroides'' are actually composite flower heads (termed an [[inflorescence]]) with a collection of flowers in the centre, surrounded by large colourful bracts, from about {{convert|120|to|300|mm|0}} in diameter. Large, vigorous plants produce six to ten flower heads in one season, although some exceptional plants can produce up to forty flower heads on one plant. The colour of the bracts varies from a creamy white to a deep crimson, but the soft pale pink bracts with a silvery sheen are the most prized.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Protea cynaroides |url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=d278 |access-date=2024-05-03}}</ref>

==Research==
The diploid chromosome count is 2n = 24.<ref name = "De Vos, 1943">De Vos, M. P. (1943). [https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA00382353_8455 "Cytological studies in genera of the Proteaceae."] South African Journal of Science, 40(11), 113-122.</ref> The genome of king protea has been sequenced and published in 2022, corresponding to the first genome sequenced in the Proteales order.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Jiyang |last2=Duong |first2=Tuan A. |last3=Schoeman |first3=Cassandra |last4=Ma |first4=Xiao |last5=Roodt |first5=Danielle |last6=Barker |first6=Nigel |last7=Li |first7=Zhen |last8=Van de Peer |first8=Yves |last9=Mizrachi |first9=Eshchar |date=January 2023 |title=The genome of the king protea, Protea cynaroides |journal=The Plant Journal |language=en |volume=113 |issue=2 |pages=262–276 |doi=10.1111/tpj.16044 |issn=0960-7412 |pmc=10107735 |pmid=36424853}}</ref>

==Ecology==
''Protea cynaroides'' grows in a harsh environment with dry, hot summers and wet, cold winters. Several adaptions include tough, leathery leaves, which helps to prevent excessive loss of moisture, and a large [[taproot]] which penetrates deep into the soil to reach underground moisture. Like most other Proteaceae, ''P. cynaroides'' has [[proteoid root]]s, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the [[leaf litter]]. These enhance [[solubility|solubilisation]] of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in the low-nutrient, [[phosphorus]]-deficient soils of its native [[Fynbos|fynbos habitat]].

The flowers are fed at by a range of nectarivorous birds, mainly sunbirds and sugarbirds, including the [[orange-breasted sunbird]] (''Anthobaphes violacea''), [[southern double-collared sunbird]] (''Cinnyris chalybeus''), [[malachite sunbird]] (''Nectarinia famosa''), and the [[Cape sugarbird]] (''Promerops cafer''). In order to reach the nectar, the bird must push its bill into the inflorescence. As it does so, its bill and face gets brushed with [[pollen]], thereby allowing for possible pollination. [[File:Promerops cafer 4.jpg|thumb|A [[Cape sugarbird]] feeding from the flower.]]

Along with birds, a host of insects are attracted to the flowerhead, such as [[bee]]s, for example the [[Cape honeybee]], and various beetle species such as [[rove beetles]] and the beetles of the huge family [[Scarabaeidae]] such as the protea beetle ''[[Trichostetha fascicularis]]'' and [[monkey beetle]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://protea.worldonline.co.za/pollinat.htm |title=Pollination of Proteas |work=Proteas Atlas Project |access-date=14 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927055914/http://protea.worldonline.co.za/pollinat.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Like many other ''Protea'' species, ''P. cynaroides'' is adapted to an environment in which bushfires are essential for reproduction and regeneration. Most ''Protea'' species can be placed in one of two broad groups according to their response to fire: ''reseeders'' are killed by fire, but fire also triggers the release of their canopy seed bank, thus promoting recruitment of the next generation; ''[[resprouter]]s'' survive fire, resprouting from a [[lignotuber]] or, more rarely, [[epicormic bud]]s protected by thick bark. ''P. cynaroides'' is a resprouter as it shoots up new stems from buds in its thick underground stem after a fire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/proteacyna.htm |title=Protea cynaroides |first=H.G. |last=Jamieson |publisher=South African National Biodiversity Institute |date=July 2001|access-date=14 October 2011}}</ref>

==Sport==

The king protea is the national flower<ref name="flower"/> of [[South Africa]] and as such lends its name to the national cricket team, whose nickname is "[[South Africa national cricket team|the Proteas]]". In the early 1990s, there was a political debate as to how and if the flower should be incorporated onto the [[South Africa national rugby union team|national rugby teams]] shirts, perhaps replacing the controversial [[springbok]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Protea cynaroides 'Arctic Ice' kz3.jpg|Protea cynaroides 'Arctic Ice' a white cultivar
File:Protea flower02.jpg
File:Protea flower.jpg
File:Protea cynaroides 1.jpg
File:Protea cynaroides 2.jpg
File:Protea cynaroides 4.jpg
File:Protea cynaroides 5.jpg
File:Protea cynaroides 6.jpg
File:Protea_cynaroides_flower.jpg
File:King Protea 01.jpg
File:Protea_P1010883.JPG|Western Cape, South Africa
File:Protea_P1010885.JPG|Western Cape, South Africa
File:King Protea bush.jpg
File:King Protea flower towards end of flowering.JPG|On Table Mountain, eastern table, near Mclear Beacon
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Protea cynaroides}}
* [http://www.plantzafrica.com/ Protea cynaroides info on PlantZAfrica.com] - from the South African National Biodiversity Institute

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1930962}}

[[Category:Protea|cynaroides]]
[[Category:Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces]]
[[Category:Garden plants of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:National symbols of South Africa]]