Although the flowers of this tree are attractive, and will certainly encourage visits by birds and insects to any garden, the main glory of Faurea rochetiana is the autumn colour of the leaves.

No species of Faurea has ever been listed for the Botanical Society plant sale in Durban, which suggests that these plants are rarely if ever offered for sale, at least in our area. It seems that as this genus is not the showiest of the Protea relatives, even collectors seldom attempt to grow it. If, however, one were to raise a tree to adult size, it would be an attractive specimen in even quite a confined space.

The first difficulty one will encounter in growing this plant is in acquiring seed. This will necessarily be field-collected, and so one will need the landowner's permission and possibly permission from provincial and national authorities to transport the seed across the relevant boundaries. Geoff Nichols, the gardening expert, tells me that although he has not attempted to grow this species, others that he has tried, do not appreciate an overdose of fertilizer-a small quantity of organic matter is best, and it is as well to plant the seedlings in their final position as soon as is practical. We believe that, like many Proteaceae, seeds of this species would respond well to smoke or smoke essence.

Many Proteaceae are naturally quite short-lived, and in addition one finds that in gardens, many of them are unusually susceptible to pathogens belonging to the genus Phytophthora. These spores are almost always present on garden tools, and so as with any relative of Protea, one should be very circumspect about carrying out any garden maintenance around these trees. It would be far safer from the plants' point of view to share the bed with a perennial ground cover than to be subject to frequent and enthusiastic loosening of soil.