Protea afra (sometimes called the common protea), native to Africa, inhabiting from South Africa to Kenya, is a small tree or shrub which occurs in subtropical open or wooded grassland, usually on rocky ridges. Its leaves are leathery and hairless. The flower head is solitary or in clusters of 3 or 4 with the involucral bracts a pale red, pink or cream colour. The fruit is a densely hairy nut. The species is highly variable and has several subspecies.

Protea is a flowering plant genus in the family Proteaceae. The shrub was first discovered by Ferdinand Krauss in the eastern regions of South Africa in December/January 1839/40. P. afra has never attracted much attention from horticulturalists. It was induced to flower at Kew Gardens in May 1893, but this failed to kindle any further interest in the species. The plant was illustrated on the reverse of a South African coin called the "tickey", the equivalent of the British threepenny bit, for almost 30 years until the coin was withdrawn in 1961.

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