Mimetes splendidus (lat.) - A species of plants of the genus Mimetes of the Protein family . Evergreen, rarely branched, straight bush up to 2.5 m high. Leaves - from a wide oval to a spear-shaped, with silver hairs, at the end there are 3-4 teeth collected together. Cylindrical inflorescences located in the axils of the leaves at the very top of the branch, consist of multiple flower heads, each of which contains 11-13 flowers. The leaves form a hood over the lower floral head and are painted in orange-pink. It blooms in winter, from early May to September. Endemic species, which is limited to the southern side of the coastal mountains of the Western Cape of South Africa [2] .
| Mimetes splendidus |
Mimetes splendidus |
| Scientific classification |
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| Order : | Proteanae Takht. , 1967 |
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| International scientific name |
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Mimetes splendidus Salisb. ex knight |
| Synonyms |
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- Mimetes hibbertii
- Protea hibbertii
- Mimetes integrus
- Mimetes mundii
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M. splendidus belongs to the group of species of the genus with silvery leaves due to the dense hairs covering the leaf surface, together with M. arboreus , M. argenteus , M. hottentoticus, and M. stokoei . M. splendidus is different from that. that all leaves have 3-4 teeth at the tips of the leaves. In addition, involutional perianths surrounding individual flower heads have an oblong shape with a rounded tip, almost smooth on the outer surface, amber in color and thin in fresh (they become paper-like and brown in herbarium specimens) [2] .
M. splendidus is a rare endemic species that mainly occurs singly or in small groups. It has a wide range from Watch Peaks in the western part of Langeberg near Swellendam in the west through the Outwink Mountains to Rondebos in the Tsitsikamma National Park in the east, forming a narrow strip 300 km long. It grows on the southern and southeastern slopes with high water availability on moist, acidic, peaty soils, always above 600 m, mainly at an altitude of 1000-1200 m in dense finbosha . Plants usually live for about twenty years. Flowering occurs in winter until September, peak in May and June. Fruits usually ripen in January – February. Flowers are pollinated by birds, and the fruits are collected by local ants, who carry them in their underground nests. Here, the seeds remain at rest until the aboveground vegetation is destroyed by the upper fire. Seeds germinate in response to increased daily temperature fluctuations and leaching of chemicals from charcoal. Adult plants of this species do not survive fires [3] .
Richard Anthony Salisbury described the species in 1809, calling it Mimetes splendidus . He also described the species in Joseph Knight's book, “On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae,” published in 1809. It is believed that Salisbury saw the manuscript of Robert Brown 's book “On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae”, published in 1810, which named the species M. hibbertii . The French botanist and traveler Jean-Louis Marie Poiret , who preferred to consider Proteaceae in a broader perspective, renamed the species Protea hibbertii in 1816. In 1912, South African botanist John Hutchinson described a similar specimen assembled by Karl Zeiger and named it M. integrus . However, on the herbarium on which Hutchison was based, there was also a Mimetes argenteus branch, which caused confusion. Finally, the Danish botanist Christian Frederick Eklon described a plant instance, giving it the name M. mundii . In 1984, John Patrick Rourke decided that all these plants are one species and should be considered synonymous with Mimetes splendidus . [2]
