Cowl Pagoda Protea

Botanic Garden

Cowl Pagoda Protea

The Cowl Pagoda Protea, Mimetes cucullatus, is a spectacular sunbird and sugarbird pollinated plant. Native to South Africa, it grows in a shrubby heath land community known as fynbos, in the mountains of the Southern Cape. It is uniquely adapted to surviving bush fires by resprouting from dormant buds on thick underground stems. Rare in cultivation within the UK, our plants were propagated from wild plants in 1999 by Garden Curator Nicholas Wray. They were rooted in South Africa before being imported and now form part of the Garden’s collection of Plants from Mediterranean Climate Regions.

  • Photographer: Nicholas Wray
  • Copyright: University of Bristol
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