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Protean 
Beauty 
An artist’s sampling captures 
the varied beauty in 
a diverse family of plants 
Illustrations and text 
by Willard K. Martin 
Proteus, prophetic old man of the sea 
in Greek mythology, had the power to 
change his shape at will, an ability he 
used to avoid capture by those trying to 
make him divulge his knowledge. 
Among plants, the family Proteaceae is 
an aptly named group of diverse plants 
whose often showy inflorescences and 
seed capsules come in a rich variety of 
forms and colors. 
The flamboyance of many Proteaceae 
flower clusters is due largely to long, 
colorful bracts, modified leaflike struc- 
tures. Members of this family typically 
grow in parts of the world that have a 
long dry season every year, and their 
bracts and other leaves tend to be cov- 
ered with hairlike outgrowths and pro- 
tected by a thick cuticle that reduces 
the water lost in transpiration. 
Proteaceae characteristically bear 
clusters of individually small flowers, 
which may be pollinated by insects, 
birds, mice, or small marsupials. Some 
of these are strikingly large clusters. 
South Africa’s king protea ( Protea 
cynaroides), a member of one of the 
family’s largest genera, may reach 
nearly a foot in diameter, and the erect 
flower cone of Australia’s yellow bull 
banksia ( Banksia grandis) can include 
as many as one thousand tiny flowers in 
a spike up to a foot and a half tall. Other 
species of various sizes and shapes re- 
semble pincushions, thistles, or asters. 
The genus Banksia , or Australian 
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