Protea #

Protea
Protea, 2008
Photo: H. Maurer


Protea, also called sugarbush, is the national flower of South Africa and is both a botanical name and the English common name of a genus of a flowering plant. The plant belongs to a very old family, the Proteaceae family, with evidence of occurrence dating back to the Upper Cretaceous, 75-80 million years ago.