Sugarbush and the God Proteus

Tags

beautiful flowers, birds, cape gardens, flowering plants, Flowers, garden, gardening, God Proteus, greek god, nature, nectar, plants, protea, proteas, South African endemic plant, sugarbird, Sugarbush, sunbird, sweet nectar

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: suikerbos).

These beautiful flowers are budding at the moment on the mountain and in the Cape gardens, creating a long lasting cheery Winter display.

Proteas were named after the Greek God Proteus, whom Homer called “The Old Man of the Sea”

Sugar birds and Sunbirds feed off the sweet nectar, and considered significant pollinators of the genus.