Protea cordata grows erect, unbranched stems from a woody base to heights around 50 cm.
A cluster of brown flowerheads are produced at the base of its stems on the ground. A flowerhead becomes about 5 cm in diameter, growing from axils and have peduncles.
There are four or five rows of papery involucral bracts on the flowerhead, overlapping loosely. When the bracts part in the centre, the open flowerhead displays a multitude of tiny creamy florets with red tips. Flowering happens in midwinter.
The distribution of P. cordata in the southwest of the Western Cape is from around Paarl and Du Toit’s Kloof to the mountains around Bredasdorp and Swellendam. The plant grows from sea level to 1200 m.
The species grows in all habitats found in the region, common on mountain slopes. The species is considered near threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century, due to invasive alien vegetation (Bean and Johns, 2005; Rourke, 1980; iNaturalist; www.redlist.sanbi.org).