We’ve always been a bit obsessed with fire. Lighting it, cooking on it, and staring into it like it’s the world’s best TV. But turns out, we’re not the only ones who’ve built a life around the flames. The Protea, South Africa’s pride and floral heavyweight, has its own fiery story. One where burning is part of the plan.
Fire: Part of the Protea’s Life Story
Some plants hide from fire. The Protea waits for it.
While everything else is running for cover, this legend of the fynbos stands tall, saying, “Relax, I was made for this.” Because for the Protea, fire isn’t destruction, it's renewal. It’s not the end of the story; it’s the start of a new one.
And here’s the wild part: this fiery partnership has been burning for around 88 million years. That’s older than humanity, older than the Karoo as we know it, and probably older than the first braai (though our singular source was asked not to confirm this).
Kind of like the way we see every braai. The end of one fire is just the start of the next gathering. When the coals go cold, you clean the Donkey Long Tong 80cm, hang it up, and wait for the next chance to spark up again. Fire never really ends. It just rests.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Born from Flame
In fynbos, fire is part of the rhythm. It sweeps through every few years, clearing out old growth and leaving behind blackened soil and the smell of smoke, and that’s exactly what the Protea’s been waiting for.
Many Proteas are what the clever folks call serotinous, meaning they store their seeds in hard, woody cones or flower heads and only release them when the heat of a fire cracks them open. Think of it like nature’s built-in timer.
When the heat hits, the cones crack open, and the seeds drop onto freshly cleared, nutrient-rich ash. It’s a clean slate with no competition. This strategy keeps seeds safe from hungry insects and harsh weather until fire gives them the all-clear.
That’s not luck, that’s evolution built around flames.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Ignited by Time
Fire doesn’t just help Proteas grow; it tells them when to grow. Research found that the timing between fires decides how the fynbos lives and dies.
If a fire comes too early, the young plants haven’t produced enough cones. Too late, and the older ones start to die off before their seeds ever get a chance. So the ecosystem has this wild balance. A natural clock that runs on embers and ash.
You could say that fynbos burns on schedule, and the fire is its timekeeper.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Smoke Signals and Seed Secrets
Here’s where things get really interesting. It’s not just the heat that tells the Protea it’s time to grow, it’s the smoke.
The smoke from a fire carries special compounds called Karrikins, that tell seeds, “The coast is clear! Time to grow.”
Even Protea relatives in the same Proteaceae family use these smoke cues to coordinate germination. So while the flames are roaring above ground, the real communication is happening below.
It’s like nature’s WhatsApp group: “Fire’s out, all good to grow, let’s go boys.”
Smoke speaks to Proteas the same way it speaks to us. It’s a signal to gather, to cook, to connect. It’s the universal language of fire, and the Donkey Tong 69cm is built to answer it.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Ash Beds & Baby Proteas
After the fire, the world looks black and dead, but give it a few weeks, and you’ll see tiny green shoots pushing through the ash.
Research found that young Protea seedlings often cluster together right where their parent once stood. The ashes of the old plant literally feed the new ones, creating a little circle of life right there in the soot.
Fire clears the competition, fertilises the soil, and lets the next generation take root. Pretty poetic for something so destructive, right?
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Even the Microbes Know the Plan
The Protea’s relationship with fire runs so deep that it even changes life at a microscopic level.
A study on Protea repens found that fire reshapes the bacteria inside its seed heads, influencing how those seeds survive and germinate. The Protea ecosystem (from the biggest plant to the tiniest microbe) is built for the burn.
And so are we. Everything we make at Donkey Long Tong, from Blower, to Paddle and Jack Sack, is built to handle the heat.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
A Fireproof Legacy
All of this makes sense when you realise where the Protea family comes from.
These fire-adapted flowering plants evolved back in the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth. They evolved with fire in their story. It’s in their DNA. So when the flames sweep through the fynbos, it’s not a tragedy. It’s tradition.
(Image by Candice Wharton)
Final Words
There’s something deeply South African about the Protea’s love affair with fire. That ability to rise again, brighter and stronger, every single time. It’s the same spirit that lives in every braai, every campfire, every spark we strike. At Donkey Long Tong, we make tools that honour that tradition. Built to last, made for fire, and designed to keep the story alive. Because like the Protea, we don’t just survive the fire, we grow from it.
