King Protea
Protea cynaroides (L.) L.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Little
- tall
- 1.2 m
- wide
- 1.2 m
Proteaceae
Also called King Sugarbush, Red Rex, Madiba, Clare, Giant Protea
Formerly Erodendrum cynariflorum, Leucadendron cynaroides, Protea cyclophylla, Protea eriolepis, and 2 more
When it flowers
Not known yet in the tropics: too few flowering observations to read a season from.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Tuberous shrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- SubtropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- S. Cape Prov.Kew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from RHS and Plant Lust, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Height
- 99 cm to 1.5 mRead from RHS and Plant Lust, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 1–1.5 m; Plant Lust 1–6 ft
- Spread
- 99 cm to 1.5 mRead from RHS and Plant Lust, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS 1–1.5 m; Plant Lust 1–6 ft
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from Plant Lust, one source
- Flowers
- Pink, cream, redRead from RHS, Plant Lust and Wikipedia, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by 2 of 3 sources. Sources differ: RHS cream, pink, red; Plant Lust pink; Wikipedia cream, pink, red
- Coldest it survives
- -2.8 °C (USDA zone 9b)Read from RHS and Plant Lust, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 1 °C; Plant Lust -6.7 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
In other languages (12)
- Afrikaans
- Reusesuikerkan, Koningsprotea, Aprilprotea
- Czech
- protea královská
- Japanese
- キングプロテア
- Chinese
- 國王海神花, 帝王花
- Russian
- Протея артишоковая
- German
- Königsprotea, Konigsprotea
- root
- Indlungi, Isindhlunge, Isindhlungu
- Finnish
- Kuningasprotea
- Chinese (China)
- 帝王花, 国王海神花
- Slovak
- protea artičoková
- Lithuanian
- Artišokinė protėja
- French
- Protée royale
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-25, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Plant Lust, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikipedia, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY-SA
- 3D model: Protea cynaroides (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.