Taxa Field Guide

Gk. leukos = white; dendron = tree; referring to commonly called ‘witteboom’ or ‘silver tree’.

Gk. leukos = white; sperma = seed. The tree has white seeds.

Gk. mimetes = imitator, mimic. Possibly given this name because some of its features, like the toothed leaves, bear a close resemblance to other family members, like Leucospermum, better known as pincushion. The genus itself is distinctive.

Gk. After Proteus, a mythological sea-god, who could change his form at will, taking new shapes. Seemingly Linnaeus was so over-awed by the variety of plants sent to him from the Cape that he named the genus Protea. The authors could not confirm this.

For Joseph (Josephus) Serrurier (1663–1742), Dutch physician, philosopher, mathematician, botanist and physicist. He studied at the University of Utrecht, obtaining an MA degree in 1690 and qualifying as a doctor of medicine on the same day. During his career at Utrecht, he became professor of philosophy and mathematics (1705), professor of botany and medicine (1716), and the university’s rector on three occasions. Among his works, he authored an extensive treatise on experimental physics, Physicae Experimentis Innixae Compendiosa Tractatio (1700), a commemorative volume on Adrianus Reland, orientalist, linguist and physicist; and created a new hortus botanicus, which he modelled on the University of Leiden’s widely acclaimed botanical garden designed by Herman Boerhaave.

Gk. spatalos = wanton, riotous. A sexual allusion to the unusually large pollen presenters on so small a flower. Commonly known as ‘spoons’.