Mimetes cucullatus is an evergreen upright shrub 1-2 m high, in the ground there is a solid tree tuber, from which several stems rise. The stems are upright 3–8 mm thick, mostly not branched, young shoots are covered with gray hairs that wear out over time. The leaves are alternate, located along the stems, from very narrow to wide elliptical or inverted ovoid, 2.5–5.5 cm long and 0.5–2 cm wide. Young leaves are scarlet in color, turn green below the stem. The leaves that form the flower heads have the shape of an inverted violin in the shape of a contour, bent back from the midline and during flowering have a scarlet color in the upper parts, gradually turning from yellow to green at the base or completely yellow with a green base or light orange [ 3] [4] .
Mimetes capitulatus (watercolor around 1700).
M. cucullatus is the most common species of the genus Mimetes , which is found in the west of the Olifants river valley, near the city of Porterville in the north, the Cape Peninsula in the southwest and to the Langeberg ridge in the east. It is especially common along the coast between Hengklip near Pringle Bay in the Kogelberg area to Bredasdorp . There are three separate populations of the species in the mountains of Kuga, Klein-Svartberg and Ruiberg; isolated mountain in the center of Maly Karu and Potberg. Probably, the habitat was larger before, but decreased due to increased dryness in the region [3] .
M. cucullatus refers to plants that, after a fire, release new shoots from their base. This is unusual for species of this genus, since in all other species seeds germinate after a fire, but adult plants die from fire [5] .
It has cluster roots that increase the absorption of nutrients, which allows it to grow in soils with a low nutrient content. This species, along with other representatives of the genus Mimetes , is adapted for pollination of birds. It has special glands at the ends of the leaves that produce nectar, which attracts ants. Ants can protect plants from herbivorous insects. In addition, ants are the main distributors of seeds.
The species was first mentioned by Leonard Plukenet in his book “Opera 2” (“Amalgest”) in 1696, which describes it as “Leucadendros Africana”: an African white tree with the tip of an artichoke, narrow leaves with tips with three teeth. In 1753, Karl Linney presented the first reliable description and named it Leucadendron cucullatum , but then changed his mind and in 1771 transferred Leucadendron to Protea , naming the species Protea cucullata . Richard Anthony Salisbury named the species Mimetes lyrigera in 1809, but it was an illegitimate name, since he claimed that it was identical to Leucadendron cucullatum , so the species had to take the species name. In 1810, Robert Brown named the species Mimetes cucullatus . In 1856, Karl Meissner described the Proteaceae section in the series “Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis” by Alfons Louis Pierre Piramu Decandol , and indicated two forms of the species M. cucullatus var. brevifolia and var. ludwigii . Ernst Gottlieb von Stoidel created M. ludwigii in the same publication, but without a proper description. In 1901, Michel Gandoger singled out three more forms: M. mixta , M. cucullatus var. dregei and M. cucullatus forma laxa . Gandoger and Hans Schinz in 1913 raised them to the level of species, calling them M. dregei and M. laxifolia . In the same year, Gandoger singled out another form, creating M. schinziana . John Patrick Rourke considered that the species is diverse and concluded that all these names should be considered synonymous with Mimetes cucullatus [3] .
The name of the species cucullātus means hood [4] .
M. cucullatus is an unusual and beautiful plant, popular for wildlife gardens. The plant responds well to strong pruning, which makes it suitable as a cut flower [5] .
