Protea punctata, the water white sugarbush, is a branched shrub growing to heights between 2 m and 4 m (SA Tree List 94.1). The base of the stem may become 30 cm in diameter. The bark on old stems is smooth and grey to brownish.
The leaves are stalkless, ascending on the stems. The leaf shape is ovate to obovate or elliptic and turning up. Leaf tips taper obtusely, acutely or are rounded, the base broadly tapering and the margins entire. The dull bluish green to blue-grey leaf surfaces are covered in shaggy, long hairs when young, losing the hairs as they age. Leaf dimensions are 3,5 cm to 8,5 cm by 2 cm to 4,5 cm.
The specific name, punctata, is derived from very small dots or translucent depressions upon the leaf surfaces, the stomata that are only visible under a magnifying glass.
The species is mainly found in the Western Cape, slightly spilling over into the Eastern Cape. The habitat is rocky, north-facing slopes of the inland mountain ranges. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Rourke, 1980; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Manning, 2007; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).