Even more extreme was the range extension of 400km was found for Protea subvestita. This Drakensberg species was found at Ladismith in the Klein Swartberg Mountains.

This poses a major problem! How come no other protea species crosses the Great Karoo? (There are suspect records of Protea lorifolia from Somerset East, but despite our offering a reward, only Pr subvestita occurs at here). Nor was this some early explorer emptying his collecting bag and spreading the species - it occurs in at least two valleys in large numbers. I think that this is another new species, but this group has had problems in the past (Pr lacticolor and Pr subvestita are very similar) - so we need to look at this more closely.