PROTEA REPENS

Suikerbos; stroopbos (Afr.)

Sugarbush; real sugarbush; honey protea (Eng.)

Family: Proteaceae

INTRODUCTION

We all know the lovely suikerbos. It grows all over Rooiels and is loved by gardeners, sugarbirds, and baboons alike.

DESCRIPTION

The “flowers” of Protea repens are actually flower heads, made up of many small flowers clustered in the centre and surrounded by large, colourful bracts.

These bracts are typically creamy white, sometimes edged with pink—and in Rooiels, we are fortunate to see both forms.

Protea repens has been part of the Royal Collections at Kew since 1780 and holds the distinction of being the first protea to flower in cultivation outside the Cape.

LOCATION

Protea repens grows from the Bokkeveld Escarpment along the south-western Cape to east of Grahamstown. Its conservation status is best described as widespread.

In our area, you will find the suikerbos from Gordon’s Bay to Kleinmond. In Rooiels, it grows almost everywhere. Follow the cheerful chirping of sunbirds, and you will soon spot flowering suikerbos from April into winter.

ECOLOGY

Sugarbush flowers are pollinated by nectar-feeding birds such as the Cape Sugarbird and various sunbirds. The birds are drawn by the nectar, while the insects visiting the flowers provide an added bonus.

When the suikerbos start flowering, the orange-breasted sunbirds begin breeding, knowing the “canteen” supplying food for their chicks will be open once the young hatch.

MEDICINAL & CULTURAL USES

In the early days at the Cape, the nectar was boiled into a syrup (bossiestroop), which was used as a cough remedy. It could also be reduced further into crystals and used as a sweetener. Lady Anne Barnard wrote in the late 1700s that boerenvrouwen would keep a crystal between the teeth while sipping their tea.

But they are not the only ones—baboons absolutely relish the sweet crown of the flower head.

The wood of the bush was commonly used as firewood.

SUGARBUSH, I LOVE YOU SO

The song “Suikerbos, ek wil jou hê” was composed by Fred Michel, a hairdresser from Observatory. It was later translated into English and performed by artists including Eve Boswell, Doris Day, and Frankie Laine.

Michel never received any compensation for his composition.

Click to find out more from iNaturalist