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Curtis's Botanical Magazine/Volume 19/697

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129964Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Volume XIX — /697 Protea Anemonifolia.John Sims




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Protea Anemonifolia. Fork-Leaved
Protea.

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Class and Order.

Triandria Monogynia.

Generic Character.

Cor. 4-petala (petalis subinde vario modo cohærentibus).
Antheræ inferte petalis infra apicem. Sem. 1. superum nudum.

Specific Character and Synonyms.

PROTEA Anemonifolia foliis linearibus elongatis superne sur-
cato-pinnatifidis: pinnis imis longioribus surcatis,
capitulo globoso terminali.






Desc. Stem shrubby, three feet high, villous. Leaves
scattered, rigid, nerved, smooth, erect, lengthened downwards
so as to resemble a long footstalk, branched at the upper part
into about three pair of pinnas, the lowermost of which are
longest and variously forked at the end: points allarmed with
a callous reddish mucro or gland. Common Flower solitary,
globose, sessile. Calcine Scales ovate-acuminate, very woolly
except the margin, compactly imbricate, forming a globose
cone fluffed with a fine white cottony substance. Corolla one-
petaled, tubed: tube longer than the limb. which is four-cleft,
hairy, tortuose. Anthers linear, 2-lobed sessile. Style ex-
serted, club-shaped. Stigma conical, acute; the style and stigma
have a singular appearance in this species something like two
cones with their bases applied together, but when the flower first
opens, these parts are so entirely covered with pollen as to
appear four-sided.
                                                   Corresponds

Corresponds very nearly with Linnæus's original descip-
tion of Protea spærocephala, and is not unlike Houttuyn's
figure of a plant; it does not however agree with the descrip-
tion of Thunberg , and being a native of New-Holland,
differing from most of the Cape species in having a long tube
to the corolla, and limb divided into four equal segments, is
undoutedly distinct. We have adopted the name of anemoni-
folia, though certainly not very appropriate, as it has been some
time known by that name in several of our nurseries

We were favoured with the specimen from which our draw-
ing was made, by Mr. Napier, Nurseyman, near Vauxhall,
a very successful cultivator of many rare articles, who raised
it from seeds received from Port-Jackson.

Is a greenhouse plant, and requires the same treatment as
the rest of the genus.