Pincushion Protea flowering in habitat

Pincushion Protea flowering in habitat, originally uploaded by Martin_Heigan.

Pincushion Protea (Leucospermum) flowers growing wild in mass next to the road between Tulbagh and Worcester (Western Cape, South Africa, August 2007).

I took the photo on a long road trip through the Western and Northern Cape in South Africa. Proteas are extremely difficult to grow (pretty much anywhere else), but are native to the Cape and grow in mass in their natural habitat. The Cape is also very mountainous, and you always seem to be surrounded by mountains everywhere you go. This photo was taken at one of the places that I stopped next to the road.