the adult plants, but the seeds can survive such an event safely stored in the old flower heads. Pollination occurs through the action of birds. Habitat The plant grows in a variety of habitats but prefers to grow in more fertile soils, fully exposed to sun on lower mountain slopes. It has been found growing in fynbos, renosterveld, coastal vegetation and the vegetation found on the more fertile shale bands. It often grows in shale, but it is found in a variety of soil types as well: alluvium, sand and silcrete; as well as substrates derived from granite. It occurs at altitudes of 100 to 850 metres. Uses Protea burchellii and its hybrids are popular crops in the cut flower industry. Horticulture This species is quite winter hardy for use in South African gardens. Many hybrid varieties are commercially available in South Africa. It can be used in the rock garden, as a specimen plant, or, due to its average height, as a shrub in the mid-layer of the border. It is best grown in a sandy, well-drained, fynbos soil. Propagation is easiest done by sowing the seeds, but it has also been achieved via cuttings. Seeds should be sown shallowly in May in South Africa (late autumn) in a well-drained substrate treated with a fungicide. Germination requires warm day and cold night temperatures. Germination is irregular, with some seeds starting to grow a year after sowing. Seedlings are easily killed by overwatering. Cuttings can be taken from the tips of shoots from December to March in South Africa. These should be treated with a rooting hormone, planted in a very well-drained substrate, and kept moist, but not wet. Roots should appear after some five weeks. The pathogenic, fungi-like Phytophthora is an important disease of the roots in cultivated plants. Infected plants become wilted and dry, eventually yellowing and then dying. The best one can do in such situations is to pull up the plant and burn it, apply fungicide to the soil where the plant stood, and no longer replant Proteaceae in that area. Conservation In 1998 and in 2008 Protea burchellii was considered locally common and not threatened, but by this time the species was already considered extinct on the Cape Peninsula. Nonetheless, it has been photographed blooming on the Lion's Head on the Cape. The species was classified as "vulnerable" on the Redlist of South African Plants