Time for yet another South African beauty from the famous and grand proteaceae family. This time we would like you to meet ‘Mimetes’. Compared to its other famous relatives such as protea, leucospermum, leucadendron and banksia, mimetes is perhaps the less famous sibling of its clan. Therefore, we thought it was about time we gave mimentes some love and tell you all about this special flower. 
 

ORIGIN

Mimetes naturally occurs in the Cape flora region in South Africa. The mimeta genus itself is not enormously extensive, since ‘only’ 13 different species can be distinguished within the genus. These 13 species can be either (small) trees or shrub-like. You’ll likely encounter mimeta at an altitude of about 400 meters. At this height, the soil is permanently moist enough for mimetes to survive: this is a flower that likes to keep its feet wet! Unfortunately, the population of a number of mimetes species is not doing well at the moment: three species have been identified as “vulnerable”, five as “endangered” and three as “critically endangered”. Persistent drought due to climate change, are important factors in this.

After this awful news, we would like to share something nice about mimetes as well: This flower is a particular favorite of the Cape sugarbird! This bird has a long pointed beak, and flies from flower to flower. Indulging the abundant nectar that mimetes (and the other flowers from the proteaceae) produce. By doing so, the bird pollinates the flowers it visits, thus (in time) allowing a new generation of mimetes to emerge.