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Pink Sugarbush Blosendesuikerbos - Protea stokoei
The Pink Sugarbush occurs on the high peaks around the Elgin Valley. It is one of the rarer Bearded Proteas, the vast majority of which are widespread, with ranges of hundreds of kilometres. Its rarity seems tied to its preference for steep, south-facing peaty soils, in areas free of snow. It is closely related to the Brownbeard Sugarbush, which is far more widespread. This species resprouts after fires, so grows slower and sets far fewer seeds. By contrast, the Pink Sugarbush has a single main trunk and is killed by fire. All its seeds are stored in the flowerheads where they are protected from fire. After fire they are released, to germinate with the autumn rains, this allowing the plants to become established before the summer drought. The Pink Sugarbush flowers from April to October. We have no data on its pollinators, but presumably it is visited by sugarbirds and sunbirds. New leaves are produced from October to March. The large rounded leaves are characteristic of this species. Even though almost all populations are in nature reserves we need to be vigilant. A firebreak in the Groenlandberg almost wiped out one of the largest populations of the Pink Sugarbush. This was noted by observant hikers. Moving the firebreak 100m solved the problem.