Protea intonsa

Protea intonsa has only been known to exist for half a century or so, it was first described as new to science by the South African botanist John Patrick Rourke in 1971.^[2][7] He had first collected the species in 1967 in the Oudtshoorn Local Municipality on the rocky southeastern slopes of the Mannetjiesberg at 4,800 feet (1,500 m) elevation (collector #860).^[7]

An isotype of Rourke's original collection is housed at the herbarium at Kew.^[7]

P. intonsa was classified in Protea section Crinitae by Tony Rebelo in 1995, what he calls the "eastern ground sugarbushes", along with P. foliosa, P. montana and P. vogtsiae.^[8]

This plant is a small, densely branched shrub up to 30 centimetres (12 in) tall.^[5] It is acaulescent, the shrubs having the appearance of low tufts 1–2 feet (30–61 cm) in diameter.^[7] The stems (rhizomes) grow underground, and have a characteristically scaled bark.^[8] It is a long-lived species.^[3]

The leaves are linear, narrow and slightly glaucous.^[7][8]

The inflorescences are specialised structures called pseudanthia, also known simply as flower heads, containing hundred of reduced flowers, called florets. These inflorescences are surrounded by petal-like appendages known as 'involucral bracts'. These bracts are pale green or greenish white base colour, this being flushed with carmine. The margins of the bracts are a dull carmine, except for the apex, which is covered in a 7mm long, white-coloured beard of hairs.^[7] It is a monoecious species, both sexes occur in each flower.^[5] The blooms are produced in late spring,^[4] between September and November.^[5]

Protea intonsa is similar to P. vogtsiae in section Crinitae, both being dwarf shrubs with subterranean stems, and has similar leaves to P. montana, which is a larger mat-forming plant with much-branched stems growing prostrate on the ground.^[8]

Protea intonsa is endemic to the southwestern part of the Cape Region of South Africa,^[3][6] where it is found in the south of the area where the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces meet.^[3] It occurs in the eastern Swartberg, Kammanassie and Baviaanskloof mountains.^[3][5] It is found on the Mannetjiesberg, the highest mountain in the Kammanassie Mountains,^[4][7] where it occurs frequently, in patches.^[7] The species is often spatially distributed as isolated populations of scattered plants.^[5]

It grows on dry, exposed mountain slopes at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,600 metres.^[3][5] It has only been found to occur in a fynbos habitat sometimes on high mountains, or in grassy fynbos. It is usually found on a substrate derived from sandstone, but near Kango in the Swartberge it occurs on conglomerates.^[3]

According to one source, the wildfires which periodically move through the land in which the shrub grows destroy the adult plants, but the seeds can survive such an event,^[5] whereas a more recent source states the plants survive fires by being able to re-sprout from underground stems.^[3] The florets are pollinated by rodents. The seeds are retained in the old, dry, fire-resistant infructescence on the plant for two years, when they are finally released after fires the seeds are dispersed by the wind.^[3][5]