Adding the word MAGUS, the Latin word for ‘wizard’, to ANIMAL, J.K. Rowling – author of the Harry Potter series - coined the term ‘ANIMAGUS’: a wizard who can become an animal yet retain magical powers. One of the first wizards to display this ability was Proteus, of Greek Mythology. He was a servant of Poseidon, god of the oceans. Proteus enjoyed a special talent: the knowledge of past, present and future. Unfortunately, this meant he was often asked for predictions. To escape people he would quickly transform into a variety of animals and terrifying creatures. Something that changes shape is said to be ‘protean’.
Plant life research indicates that Proteaceae probably originated in South Africa along the southern coastal mountain ranges, growing wild in the Cape of Good Hope and on the slopes of Table Mountain. Some 140 million years ago, Gondwana (the southern hemisphere combined into one land mass) started to break up into separate continents which, eventually, became India, Madagascar and the southern continents; Australasia, Antarctica and South America as we know them today.
The ancient members of the Proteaceae family followed separate evolutionary courses on these now isolated landmasses as they moved to their current positions as they are today. Protea, Leucadendron and Leucospermum stayed mainly in Southern Africa, while their cousins, Banksias, moved to Australia. In New Zealand there are now just two living indigenous members of the Proteaceae family, yet the fossil record clearly shows the land once supported a rich, diverse range of Proteaceae.
The genus Protea was named in 1735 by Carolus Linnaeus after the Greek god Proteus who could change his form at will, because proteas have such different forms.
Proteas attracted the attention of botanists visiting the Cape (South Africa) in the 1600s. Many species were introduced to Europe in the 1700s, enjoying a unique popularity at the time amongst botanists.
The Proteaceae family to which Proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwanaland, 300 million years ago. Proteaceae is divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwanaland that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with Madagascar, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera — this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.
In Africa no member of the Protea genus occurs further north than the Limpopo River. 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mountainous coastal land from Clanwilliam to Grahamstown. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape Flora is thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species.
