Up close, the centre of the flower after the seeds have gone

Another dose of the protea flowers: there aren't any freshly opened seed pods but there are older dried involucral bracts on the tree from last season or even the year before. Once the seeds have dispersed, these stay on the tree for a couple of years, probably until a fire comes along to clear them off.

Protea caffra dried involucral bracts are common in floral arrangements although those are usually dark brown. The ones pictured here are older and weathered and lend themselves well to black and white