Protea laetans

Blyde River protea
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Protea
Species:	P. laetans
Binomial name
Protea laetans L.E.Davidson

Protea laetans, the Blyde River protea or Blyde sugarbush, is a localized plant of the Proteaceae family. It was recognised as a species in 1970, and is endemic to the Blyde River Canyon of the Mpumalanga escarpment, South Africa.^[1] The slender plants are up to 5m tall and flower from mid to late summer. The bracts of their closed flower heads are shiny and silvery in appearance.^[1] They are most easily viewed near the F.H. Odendaal camp of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. Laetans means joyous, i.e. Blyde.

Sources

1. Onderstall, Jo (1984). Transvaal lowveld and escarpment. South African wild flower guide 4. Cape Town: Botanical Society of South Africa. p. 86. ISBN 0-620-07750-6.

• Hilton-Taylor, C. et al. 1998. Protea laetans. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Downloaded on 23 August 2007.