Tas. 73381. 
PROTEA RuHopanTHa. 
Native of the Transvaal. 
Nat. Ord. Prorgace#.—Tribe PRotreea. 
Genus Prorza, Linn. ; (Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 169.) 
Protea rhodantha; fruiticulus nanus erectus glaber, caule simplici brunneo 
maculato basi tuberoso, foliis sessilibus lineari-oblongis apice rotundatis 
immarginatis basi angustatis venosis, capitulo terminalr amplo 3-poll. 
diam., latissime turbinato glabro basi in pedunculum brevem obconicum 
bracteolis parvis dense imbricatis viridibus brunneo marginatis tectum 
repente attenuato, bracteis patulis, inferioribus latissime obovatis obtusis 
roseis viridi costatis marginatisque, intimis sensim longioribus oblongis 
concavis apice rotundatis pulchre roseis, calycis semipollicaris tubo in- 
ferne glabro marginibus superne lobisque sericeo-pilosis, antheris 3 poll. 
longis rubris, stylo gracili recto, stigmato-elongato gracili cylindraceo. 
I have vainly attempted to identify this beautiful plant 
with any of the sixty-six African Proteas described in De 
Candolle’s Prodromus by the late Dr. Meissner, or with any 
contained in the rich herbarium of Kew. It belongs to 
Meissner’s first section of the genus “ Caulescentes,” with 
erect stems and terminal heads, and to the subsection in 
which the involucral bracts are not bearded; but none of 
the species described under this section, nor indeed has 
any described species of the genus been discovered in 
a locality nearly so far North as the habitat of P. rhodantha, 
namely, Pilgrim’s Rest, on the west of the Transvaal 
Drakensberge, in lat. 25° S. and long. 31° EH. As regards 
this Drakensberge region, Mr. Bolus informs me that it 
abounds in rocky defiles where Proteacex are a marked 
feature in the landscape, and that it has been very imper- 
fectly explored. When it is considered that the same 
mountain range extends into the hitherto botanically unex- 
plored Matabele Land, it is obvious that a multitude of 
new plants remain to reward the first botanical traveller 
who visits it. 
With regard to Protea itself, the genus cannot be satis- 
December 1, 1893. 
