Taxa Field Guide

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.

From the Greek para, beyond, contrary to; nomos, custom, law; referring to the leaves which carry dichotomously branched veins, are not dorsiventral and in many species are of two entirely different shapes in the adult bush.

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’.

From the Latin ‘vesicatoria’ / ‘vesicatorius’ meaning ‘relating to the bladder’

From the Latin pubescens meaning ‘downy’ with short soft hairs

From the Latin spicatus = ‘spiked’

For George Clifford (1685–1760), Dutch merchant and banker, amateur botanist and zoologist. He was a director of the Dutch East India Company and owned a magnificent garden at Hartecamp, Netherlands, as well as a private zoo in Amsterdam. George Clifford is best known as a patron of the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus, whom he employed as ‘hortulanus’ and who catalogued the family’s unique collection of plants, herbarium and library. The result was Linnaeus’s 530-page book Hortus Cliffortianus (1738), his first important work, in which he described many species from Clifford’s garden. The publication was paid for by George Clifford as a private edition.

From the Latin ampullaceus = flask-shaped, referring to the shape of the flower

From the Latin articulatus meaning ‘with joints’

From the Greek ‘cerinth’ / ‘kerinthe’ meaning ‘honeywort’; and the Greek ‘oides’ / ‘oides’ meaning ‘in the form of’.

From the Latin coccineus = ‘scarlet’

From the Latin ‘cori’ / ‘coris’ meaning ‘thick and leathery’; and the Latin ‘folia’ / ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’.

From the Latin curvi / curvus meaning ‘curved’; and the Latin folia / folium meaning ‘leaf’.

From the Latin discolor meaning ‘variegated’ or two-toned. This typically refers to either the flower or leaf

From the Elim area in the south coast of South Africa