Erect shrub to about 3 m tall. Leaves mostly 12-16 cm long,1.5-3 cm wide, narrowly oblong. Flower cluster mostly 10-13 cm long, 6-8 cm wide, goblet-shaped; bracts incurved at the tip, white to deep pink with a black, rarely white, fringe of hair at the tip; spring to summer.
Probably the most popular and hardy garden protea.
S Africa (Cape).
P. laurifolia Thunb. has rather similar flower heads but the leaves are distinctly elliptic and stalked while P. longifolia Andr., Long Leaf Protea, has the flower awns drawn together to form a distinctive black cone over the centre of the flower mass. P. obtusifolia Meisn. is similar but has oblanceolate leaves wih a distinct stalk-like base and pink to creamy green bracts with a white fringe.
Source: (2002). Proteaceae. In: . 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.
Flower head creamy white; autumn to spring. Raised in New Zealand and released by Duncan and Davies in 1978.
Protea neriifolia 'Cream Mink'
Flowers cream with a black beard in winter. Selected at Proteaflora and released in 1991.
Protea neriifolia 'Feathered Red'
Pink flower with black beard in autumn. Selected at Proteaflora and released in 1986.
Protea neriifolia 'Frosted Fire'
Flower head pale red with a white fringe on inner bracts; outer bracts with a dry margin; floret mass pointed, dark red; May to August. Proteaflora, Australia, int. 1987.
Protea neriifolia 'Kurrajong Twilight'
A hybrid raised by Protea Australis. Matthews, 1993.
N Satin' Flower cluster pink, the inner bracts with strong black tufts of hair; floret mass black; early winter. Released by Proteaflora in 1986.