Mimetes arboreus

Description

Mimetes arboreus, or Kogelberg pagoda, is an evergreen, upright large shrub or small tree of 2–6 m (6½–20 ft) high in the family Proteaceae. It grows from a thick trunk with a smooth grey bark that branches at ½–1 m (1½–3 ft) above the ground. It has silvery, lance-shaped, pointy leaves of 5–8¼ cm (2.0–3.3 in) long and ¾–3¼ cm (0.3–1.3 in) wide, at an upward angle and overlapping eachother. The inflorescences are set just below the top of the branches, are cylinder-shaped, 8–10 cm (3¼–4 in) in diameter, topped by a crest of more or less horizontal pinkish or reddish tinged leaves. It consists of several flower heads in the axils of pinkish orange leaves that form a hood shielding the underlying flower head. Each flower head contains eight to thirteen individual flowers, with bright red styles and grey silky perianth lobes. It is endemic to the Fynbos ecoregion of South Africa, being confined to the Kogelberg mountain range.