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Proteaceae (Natural order of trees)

A natural order of trees or shrubs, rarely perennial herbs, mostly Australian or South African, a few being dispersed in tropical or extra-tropical South America and the South Pacific Islands; they are wholly wanting in North temperate regions. Flowers hermaphrodite, or by abortion polygamous or dioecious, capitate-spicate, racemose, or rarely solitary, bracteate, very rarely bibracteolate; perianth inferior, of four at first valvate, coherent segments, afterwards becoming more or less recurved; stamens four, always shorter than the perianth; anthers erect, in hermaphrodite flowers all perfect or rarely one abortive, the connective continuous with the filaments; bracts sometimes small, very caducous, or almost obsolete, sometimes imbricating and persistent, forming a hard cone. Fruit very variable in form. Leaves alternate or scattered, rarely opposite or whorled, entire, much toothed, or sometimes pinnatisect or decompound on the same plant, usually coriaceous; stipules none. Many of the species are well known to gardeners, by whom they have long been cultivated. Several produce an abundance of nectar. The wood of some of the Australian kinds is valuable for cabinet making. Proteaceae comprises forty nine genera and about 950 species. Well-known examples are: Banksia, Grevillea, Hakea, Leucospermum, and Protea.