Multi-stemmed shrub to 2 m tall. Leaves hairless,12-30 cm long, the stalk long, 4-18 cm long with a roundish oval to elliptic blade that is extremely thick and brittle. Flower cluster goblet to bowl-shaped and reminiscent of the artichoke head, to 20 cm long by 12-30 cm wide; spring to summer. Bracts deep crimson to pink or cream with a green tinge, silky-hairy.

The national flower of S Africa.

S Africa (Cape).

Leaves long-stalked, tough, roundish; flower heads reddish, artichokelike.

Source: Spencer, R.; Molyneux, B.; Mathews, D. (2002). Proteaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.