Proteas date back millions of years and occur naturally in the southern hemisphere. They thrive in poor soil. The cultivation of a Protea plant is time-consuming, so good planning when developing the cross combinations and goals are of great importance of the breeding programme.[5] Some protea flower species, like the king protea flower, are self-pollinating flowers. Other protea species, however, such as P. cordata, P. decurrens, and P. scabra are self-incompatible, thus rely on cross-pollination for successive seed set. The main vectors responsible for the transfer of pollen in protea cultivation are birds, insects, and wind.
