Mimetes fimbriifolius

Mimetes fimbriifolius, also called cowl pagoda or the fringed pagoda, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a dense, rounded, multi-branched tree that grows up to 4 metres (13 ft) in height. This attractive and striking plant flowers all year round, and produces red and yellow branch-heads and inflorescences. The nectar-rich flowers are pollinated by sunbirds and the seeds are distributed and taken underground by ants before germinating. It is endemic to the Table Mountain range in the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

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Mimetes fimbriifolius is a small tree of 2½–5 m (8–16 ft) high and can develop a crown of up to about 5 m across, that grows from a stout trunk of 25–60 cm (0.8–2.0 ft) thick, which is covered by an irregularly fissured, grey bark of up to 2½ cm (1 in) thick, that protects it from fire. From the trunk grow stocky stems of 1–1¼ cm (0.4–0.5 in) thick, that regularly branch and are initially covered in grey felty hairs, which gradually wear off with age. The leaves are set alternately along the branches, at an upward angle and overlapping. They have an oblong or elliptic to oblong outline, and are 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long and 1¼–2¼ cm (0.4–0.9 in) wide. They are abruptly cut off at its base and without a leaf stalk, have a blunt tip with three thickened teeth close together, the remainder of the margin entire but for a row of equal hairs along its length. The leaf surfaces are initially densely covered in felty hairs, but these wear off over time. The scarlet-coloured leaves that subtend the flower heads are fiddle-shaped and the sides curve downward, providing a hood for the flower head lower down the stem. The inflorescences are broad cylinder-shaped, 6–8 cm (2.4–3.2 in) long and 6–7 cm (2.4–2.8 in) in diameter. The flower heads, which are in the axils of the higher leaves on the stems, each contain between four and seven individual flowers. The bracts that encircle the flower heads are unequal in size, clasp the base of the flowers tidily, are powdery hairy but felty near the base, and together form a two-lipped involucre. The two or three bracts below the attachment of the flowers are broadly ellipse-shaped with a pointy tip, and are larger, 3½–4 cm (1.4–1.6 in) long and 12–16 mm (0.48–0.64 in) wide. The bracts above the attachment of the flower heads are smaller, narrowly lance-shaped with a pointy tip, 1½–2½ cm (0.6–1.0 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide. The bract subtending the individual flower is linear with to awl-shaped, about 10 mm (0.40 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) wide, and densely covered in silky hairs. The 4-merous perianth is 4–4½ cm (1.6–1.8 in) long. The lower part, that remains merged when the flower is open, is opaque, hairless, inflated, and about 3 mm (0.12 in) long. The four segments in the middle part (or claws) are line-shaped and powdery hairy. The segments in the upper part (or limbs), which enclosed the pollen presenter in the bud, are boat-shaped with a pointy tip and a felty outer surface. From the centre of the perianth emerges a style of 5½–6 cm (2.2–2.4 in) long. The thickened part at the tip of the style called pollen presenter is narrowly ellipse-shaped with a pointy tip, 8–10 mm (0.32–0.40 in) long, with a ring-shaped thickening at its base, and the sigmatic groove skewed. The oval ovary is silky hairy, 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) long and difficult to differentiate from the style. It is subtended by four fleshy, awl-shaped scales of about 1½ mm (0.06 in) long. The one-seeded fruits are broadly egg-shaped, about 8 mm (0.32 in) long and 5 mm (0.20 in) wide. Differences with related species Mimetes fimbriifolius and Mimetes cucullatus differ from all other pagoda species by the gullet-type flower head. It functions in the same way as Acanthus and many Scrophulariaceae and Lamiaceae flowers. The bracts at the side of the stem are smaller, those in sight from the side are enlarged, while the leaf that is subtending the flower head above forms a brightly coloured hood. When the flowers open, the styles grow longer, break free from the perianth, and are pressed in the overhead leaf. Mimetes fimbriifolius can easily be distinguished from M. cucullatus by its branching, tree-like habit, the fringe of white hairs along the edge of the leaves, and the longer leaves of 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) long in M. fimbriifolius. M. cucullatus is a shrub with not or shyly branching stems that individually emerge from the ground, and the shorter leaves of 2½–5½ cm long lack a fringe of hairs.