Proteas
The Proteaceae are mostly southern hemisphere tropical and subtropical evergreen shrubs and trees comprising about 75 genera and 1,000 species. The leaves are simple, estipulate, and mostly alternate. The flowers are actinomorphic or zygomorphic, mostly perigynous, and often in dense cone-like inflorescences or heads with involucral bracts. The perianth is uniseriate, 4-parted, and valvate, with one stamen adnate to and opposite each lobe. The gynoecium consists of a single, simple pistil with a single long style that is often bent back on itself (at least in bud), a single stigma, and a superior, often stipitate ovary with one locule containing 1-many, usually marginal ovules. The fruit is a follicle, achene, samara, or drupe.
