Hylogyne speciosa((Salisb.) Salisb. ex Knight nom. illeg. nom. rej.)
Telopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales waratah or simply waratah, is a large shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. No subspecies are recognised, but the closely related Telopea aspera was only recently[when?] classified as a separate species. T.speciosissima is a shrub to 3 or 4m (9.8 or 13.1ft) high and 2m (6.6ft) wide, with dark green leaves. Its several stems arise from a pronounced woody base known as a lignotuber. The species is well renowned for its striking large red springtime inflorescences (flowerheads), each including hundreds of individual flowers. These are visited by the eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus), birds such as honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and various insects.
The floral emblem for its home state of New South Wales, Telopea speciosissima has featured prominently in art, architecture, and advertising, particularly since Australian federation. Commercially grown in several countries as a cut flower, it is also cultivated in home gardens, requiring good drainage yet adequate moisture, but is vulnerable to various fungal diseases and pests. A number of cultivars with various shades of red, pink and even white flowers are available. Horticulturists have also developed hybrids with T.oreades and T.mongaensis which are more tolerant of cold, shade, and heavier soils.
Description
Seed pods containing several beige seeds at bottom
Telopea speciosissima, the New South Wales waratah, is a large, erect shrub up to 3 or 4 metres (9.8 or 13.1ft) in height with one or more stems.[3][4] Arising vertically or near vertically from a large woody base, or lignotuber, the stems are little branched. In late spring, there is a spurt of new growth after flowering, with new shoots often arising from old flowerheads.[5] The dark green leaves are alternate and usually coarsely-toothed, ranging from 13 to 25cm (5 to 10in) in length.[3] Enveloped in leafy bracts, the flowerheads develop over the winter and begin to swell in early spring,[3][6] before opening to reveal the striking inflorescences. The exact timing varies across New South Wales, but flowering can begin as early as August in the northern parts of its range, and finish in November in the southern, more elevated areas.[5] Spot flowering may also occur around March in autumn.[7] Containing up to 250 individual flowers, the domed flowerheads are crimson in colour and measure 7–10cm (3–4in) in diameter. They are cupped in a whorl of leafy bracts which are 5 to 7cm (2 to 3in) long and also red.[3][5] Variations are not uncommon; some flowerheads may be more globular or cone-shaped than dome-shaped, and the bracts may be whitish or dark red. The tips of the stigmas of some inflorescences may be whitish, contrasting with the red colour of the rest of the flowerhead.[8]
An individual flowerhead reaches full size about two weeks after first emerging from the bracts, and lasts another two weeks before the flowers fade and fall. In the first phase, the individual small flowers, known as florets, remain unopened—and the flowerhead retains a compact shape—before they mature and split open, revealing the stigma, style, and anther. The anther is sessile, lacking a filament, and lies next to the stigma at the end of the style. The outermost florets open first, with anthesis progressing towards the centre of the flowerhead, which becomes darker and more open in appearance, and begins attracting birds and insects. The ovary lies at the base of the style and atop a stalk known as the gynophore, and it is from here that the seed pods then develop. Meanwhile, a crescent-shaped nectary lies at the base of the gynophore.[7][9]
The seed pods grow to 8–15cm (3–6in) long.[2] As the pods mature, they range from green, to yellow and finally turn russet red-brown. The pods become leathery before splitting open during early winter,.[7] The pods contain winged seeds inside.[3] In the wild, only two or three seed pods develop per flowerhead, but there may be anywhere from 5 to 50 in cultivated plants.[7]
Taxonomy
Hand-coloured engraving of Telopea speciosissima by James Sowerby from A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland
Telopea speciosissima is one of five species from southeastern Australia which make up the genus Telopea. Its closest relative is the very similar Gibraltar Range waratah (T.aspera) from northern New South Wales, which was only recognised as a separate species in 1995, having previously been considered an unusual northern population of T.speciosissima.[12]
The genus is classified in the subtribe Embothriinae of the Proteaceae, along with the tree waratahs (Alloxylon) from eastern Australia and New Caledonia, and Oreocallis and the Chilean firetree (Embothrium coccineum) from South America.[13][14] Almost all these species have red terminal flowers, and hence the subtribe's origin and floral appearance must predate the splitting of Gondwana into Australia, Antarctica, and South America over 60million years ago.[15]
Although no subspecies are recognised within Telopea speciosissima itself, geographical variations within its range have been noted. Forms toward the northern limits of its range have more prominently lobed leaves.[12] A population from Waterfall has darker red, wider inflorescences,[16] and a population at West Head in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park has paler inflorescences.[16] Leaf shape varies widely.[16]
The common namewaratah was first applied to this species before being generalised to other members of the genus Telopea and, to a lesser extent, Alloxylon. Waratah is derived from the EoraAboriginal people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.[11] The Dharawal people of the Illawarra region knew it as mooloone,[17] and mewah is another aboriginal name. A former common name from around 1900 is "native tulip", possibly derived from Telopea.[11]
Distribution and habitat
Distribution of Telopea speciosissima (highlighted in red) within Australia
The species is found in New South Wales (Australia) from the Watagan Mountains southward to Ulladulla, with a relatively widespread distribution in the Central Coast region.[4] It usually occurs as an understory shrub in open forest on sandy soils in areas with moderately high rainfall,[3] receiving on average around 1,200mm (47in) a year.[18] Dappled shade from eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) trees reduces sunlight by around 30%.[5] Much of its range occurs in the Sydney Basin, an area with one of the highest human populations and most intense development in Australia. The impact of habitat fragmentation and decreased fire interval (time between bushfires) on the gene pool of Telopea speciosissima, which relies on outcrossing, is unclear. Although largely protected within National Parks and conservation reserves in the Sydney area, most populations are small, numbering under 200 plants, and are often located near urban developments.[16]
Ecology
Waratah in flower in bushland, regenerating from fire in recent years, dominant above slower-growing understory plants
Telopea speciosissima is a pyrogenic-flowering species, relying on post-fire flowering followed by production and dispersal of non-dormant seeds to take advantage of favourable growing conditions in the altered environment following a fire. Of the woody resprouter species of southeastern Australia, it is one of the slowest to produce seedlings after bushfires, taking at least two years.[19] The species resprouts from a lignotuber, a swollen woody base largely under the soil, that stores energy and nutrients as a resource for rapid growth of new shoots after a bushfire. Waratahs dominate the understorey around two years after a fire, but are later overtaken by the slower-growing banksias (Banksia) and wattles (Acacia). Fire also serves to strip away diseases and pests.[20] Flowering may be prolific at this time.[21]
Fully mature flowerheads with opened florets, like this specimen from the Royal National Park, attract many animals.
The New South Wales waratah had been considered to be protandrous (that is, with male parts concluding sexual activity before female parts become receptive on the same plant),[9] but analysis of the timing of pollen viability and stigma receptivity has shown significant overlaps.[24] The species has been shown to be self-incompatible, requiring cross-pollination with plants of other genotypes to reproduce successfully.[25]
Cultivation
In cultivation, Telopeaspeciosissima on left next to larger more vigorous T. 'Shady Lady' at right
The New South Wales waratah was a popular garden plant at the beginning of the 20th century. It had been introduced early (1789) into the United Kingdom, and was reported flowering for the first time in 1809 at Springwell, the villa of one E. J. A. Woodford Esq. The Royal Horticultural Society awarded it an Award of Merit in 1914, and a First Class Certificate in 1922.[11]
Initially, waratahs were picked from the bushland for market, but by the early 20th century, a few plantsmen grew concerned at the development of urban areas at the expense of bush, particularly areas noted for wildflowers. Percy Parry of Floralands in Kariong developed the idea of "Preservation by Cultivation" and investigated the commercial cultivation of waratahs and other native plants. Meanwhile, the New South Wales Government was looking to curb flower and plant collecting from the wild, and considered prohibition in 1944, but after witnessing the ability of Parry to manage and develop cultivation, introduced compulsory licences for wildflower collecting the following year. With his wife Olive, Percy promoted and developed knowledge over fifty years and received the Order of Australia medal in 1981.[26] Following on from the Parrys were Howard Gay and Arch Dennis, who pioneered growing waratahs at Monbulk in the Dandenong Ranges in the 1940s, Sid Cadwell and Frank Stone, who did likewise in Dural and the Blue Mountains respectively.[27] The growing movement for cultivating and preserving native plants led to the establishment of the Society for Growing Australian Plants in 1957,[27] and the waratah was featured heavily in the first edition of its journal Australian Plants.[28]
Today, New South Wales waratahs are grown commercially in Australia north of Sydney and in the Dandenong Ranges near Melbourne. They are also grown commercially in New Zealand and in Israel,[3] and also in Hawaii, where they have been grown since 1961.[29] One major challenge in commercial production is that in any one location the flowering season is generally short (five weeks total, with only small numbers in the earliest and latest weeks). The season for cut flowers may be extended, however, by growing plants at different latitudes. The vase life of a cut waratah is 10 to 14 days, and cut flower waratahs can be revived somewhat by water.[8]
Although they grow naturally on deep sandy soils, the species has proved adaptable to other deep, well-drained soils, especially where natural slopes assist drainage. Despite their natural occurrence in woodland, waratahs flower best in full sun, although they tolerate the dappled shade of eucalypts.[11] Heavy pruning after flowering reinvigorates the plants and promotes more profuse flowering in the next season.[3] Waratah blooms are highly susceptible to damage from wind, and benefit from some protection from prevailing winds.[30] Waratah blooms attract birds to the garden.[11] The species is readily propagated from fresh seed, but cultivars must be reproduced from cuttings to remain true-to-type.[31]
Several species of fungi infect the roots of waratahs, causing significant plant morbidity or death. Typical symptoms include yellow leaves, wilting, blackening and dieback or part or all of the plant, or lack of proteoid roots.[32] The most common pathogen is the soil-borne water moldPhytophthora cinnamomi,[33] which appears to be more problematic in cultivated plants than in wild populations.[34] Mass plantings at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and at Mount Annan planted before the 2000 Summer Olympics were devastated by the disease.[34]Rhizoctonia solani can cause damping off or root rot,[33] and is an uncommon pathogen. Cylindrocarpon scoparium and C. destructans (now Nectria radicicola) are also uncommon causes of infection[35] and result in decay of the crown of the plant.[33] Although significant problems, fungi are less likely to be the cause of plant morbidity than poor drainage or soil conditions.[32]
A number of natural variants of Telopea speciosissima have been selected for cultivation as follows:
Telopea 'Brimstone Blush' is a shrub of smaller size than the species, reaching a metre (3ft) tall, and was originally found growing on a property of Ben Richards in Oakdale, southwest of Sydney. Flowering takes place in October. The flowerhead is globular with a pink crown and has 160 individual flowers, the styles of which are pink and white towards the ends. Three rows of whorled dark red bracts surround the flowerheads.[36]
Telopea 'Cardinal' is a form originally found on the property of Lucille Pope in Werombi, from where it was propagated and made available commercially. The original plant was a vigorous specimen reaching 3 by 3m (9.8 by 9.8ft) and producing 100 to 120 flowerheads each year. It is named for its large dome-shaped cardinal red flowerheads, which bear 210 individual flowers and are surrounded by two rows of dark red bracts. These blooms have long vase life.[37]
Telopea 'Corroboree', a form with longer styles, has compact inflorescences measuring 12cm (4.5in) high and wide, and is a vigorous grower. It was selected for commercial propagation in 1974 by Nanette Cuming of Bittern, Victoria, and registered with the Australian Cultivar Registration Authority in 1989. It is grown principally for the cut flower industry.[38]
Telopea 'Fire and Brimstone' is a vigorous form with large inflorescences selected by waratah grower and author Paul Nixon of Camden, New South Wales. It is a shrub which may reach 3–4m tall and 2m wide, with large leaves with more heavily toothed margins.[39] Each flowerhead is cone-shaped and has up to 240 florets. The stigmas are a light red and tipped with white. The bracts surrounding the flowerheads are relatively small, while the leaves are large and can reach 44cm (17.5in) in length.[40] The cultivar is thought to be tetraploid.[39] With a long vase life of 17 days, the cultivar is suitable for the cut flower industry.[40]
Telopea 'Galaxy' has flowerheads with pinkish red tepals and white tips to the styles, surrounded by large bracts.[29]
Telopea 'Olympic Flame' is a form with prominent bracts around the flowerheads. It has large leaves with toothed margins and flowers in early spring. Also known as 'Sunburst', it arose as a seedling in a breeding program conducted by Cathy Offord, Peter Goodwin and Paul Nixon under the auspices of the University of Sydney.[39]
Telopea 'Parry's Dream' was a chance seedling in the early 1970s. It gave rise to this cultivar, a vigorous plant with red-pink flowerheads which reach a diameter of 10cm ×10cm (4in ×4in) surrounded by pink bracts.[29]
Telopea 'Shade of Pale' is an unusual pale-pink flowered form of T.speciosissima.[39] It is less vigorous than the parent plant. It was initially promoted as 'Light Shade of Pale' but there can only be three words in a registered cultivar name.
Telopea 'Sunflare' is an early-flowering form. It has large leaves with toothed margins and flowers in early spring. It also arose as a seedling in the same breeding program by the University of Sydney mentioned above.[39] Selected in 1981, it has red flowerheads with white-tipped styles which reach 9cm (3.5in) in diameter.[29]
Telopea 'Wirrimbirra White'
Telopea 'Wirrimbirra White' is a white form from Kangaloon near Robertson. Aboriginal legends of white waratahs existed, and several had been encountered, but none had been previously preserved in horticulture. Joseph Maiden had previously found a white waratah near Kurrajong,[11] and others had been sighted near Narara on the Central Coast in 1919, and Colo Vale in the 1950s. Horticulturalist Frank Stone reported one in his garden, possibly propagated from the latter plant.[41] 'Wirrimbirra White' was brought into cultivation in 1972 by cuttings from the original plant, which grew on water catchment property. It has pale greenish buds which open to a cream-white inflorescence. It is less vigorous than the parent species and vulnerable to borers.[42] It is also highly vulnerable to the Macadamia twig girdler.[29]
In addition, a number of interspecific Telopea hybrids have also been produced. These have been bred or used as more frost- or shade-tolerant plants in cooler climates such as Canberra, Melbourne or elsewhere.
Telopea 'Braidwood Brilliant' is a frost-tolerant hybrid between a male T.speciosissima and female T.mongaensis. Dr Boden of the Canberra Parks Administration began investigating this hybrid in 1962, and it was registered in 1975 by Richard Powell. It is a lignotuberous shrub to 3m (9.8ft) high and has oblanceolate leaves to 20cm (8in) long. The red blooms are 6–8cm (2.5–3in) in diameter, intermediate in size between the parent species.[11] It has grown well in cooler climates such as Canberra.[43]
Telopea 'Braidwood Brilliant'
Telopea 'Canberry Coronet' is a cross between T.speciosissima from Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains and T.mongaensis intended for increased cold tolerance. It has red flowerheads to 6–8cm (2.5–3in) in diameter. Reaching 3–4m (9.8–13.1ft) high, it is a larger plant than 'Braidwood Brilliant'.[39] It was bred by Doug Verdon of the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.[36]
Telopea 'Champagne' is a cultivar registered under Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) in 2006.[44] Its creamy yellow flowerheads appear from October to December.[29] It is a three-way hybrid between T.speciosissima, T.oreades and the yellow-flowered form of T.truncata.
Telopea 'Golden Globe' is a cultivar registered under PBR in 2006.[45] Larger than 'Champagne', it is also a three-way hybrid between T.speciosissima, T.oreades and the yellow-flowered form of T.truncata. It has been propagated and sold as 'Shady Lady Yellow'. It was originally bred in the Dandenongs east of Melbourne.[29]
Telopea 'Shady Lady' is a larger shrub which may reach 5m (16ft) high and 2 or 3m (6.6 or 9.8ft) wide. A hybrid of T.speciosissima and T.oreades, it arose by chance in a Melbourne garden. The flowerheads are smaller and lack the bracts of the speciosissima parent. As its name suggests, it tolerates more shade.[39] It is vigorous and more reliable in temperate and subtropical areas, and grows in semi-shade or sun.[29] 'Shady Lady Crimson', 'Shady Lady Red' and 'Shady Lady Pink' are three selected commercially available colour forms.[46]
Telopea 'Shady Lady White' is a white hybrid between T.speciosissima and T.oreades.[46]
Symbolic and artistic references
The New South Wales waratah featured prominently in the folklore of the Darug and Tharawal people in the Sydney basin and Gandangara people to the southwest.[47] A dreamtime legend from the Eora tells of a female wonga pigeon searching for her husband who has been lost while out hunting. A hawk attacks and wounds her, and she hides in a waratah bush. Her husband calls and as she struggles in the bush her blood turns the white waratah blooms red.[48] A tale from the Burragorang Valley tells of a beautiful maiden named Krubi, who wore a red cloak of rock wallaby adorned with the feathers of the gang-gang cockatoo. She fell in love with a young warrior who did not return from battle. Grief-stricken, she died, and up from the ground grew the first waratah.[49] The Dharawal people regarded it as a totem, using it in ceremonies and timing ceremonies to its flowering.[17]
The striking form of the New South Wales waratah became a popular motif in Australian art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and was incorporated in art nouveau designs of the time. Matchboxes, paperweights and especially tins have been decorated with the flower. Arnott's often used the waratah as an alternative to their parrot logo on biscuit and cake tins from the early 1900s.[50] Shelleys soft drinks, established in 1893 in Broken Hill, also displayed it on their label.[50] The French artist Lucien Henry, who had settled in Sydney in 1879, was a strong proponent of a definitive Australian art style incorporating local flora, particularly the waratah.[51][52] His most famous surviving work is a triptychstained glass window of Oceania flanked by numerous waratahs overlooking the Centennial Hall in Sydney Town Hall.[53] In 1925, artist Margaret Preston produced a hand-coloured woodcut depicting waratahs.[54] The species also appeared on an Australian 3 shilling stamp in 1959 designed by botanical illustrator Margaret Jones and a 30c stamp in 1968.[3]
After Australian federation in 1901, the upsurge in nationalism led to the search for an official national floral emblem. The New South Wales waratah was considered alongside the wattle Acacia pycnantha, and debate raged between proponents of the two flowers. The economist and botanist R. T. Baker proposed that the waratah's endemism to the Australian continent made it a better choice than the wattle, as well as the prominence of its flowers.[56] He was nicknamed the "Commander in Chief of the Waratah Armed Forces".[57] The South Australian Evening News also supported the bid, but to no avail.[56]
Decades later, in 1962, Telopea speciosissima was proclaimed as the official floral emblem of New South Wales by the then-governor Sir Eric Woodward, after being used informally for many years.[58] The species has also been adopted by others, including the New South Wales Waratahs rugby union team since the 1880s,[50] and the former department store Grace Bros in a stylised form for their logo in the 1980s.[50] Contemporary clothing designers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson produced waratah-inspired fabric designs in the 1970s and 1980s during a resurgence of Australian motifs.[59][60]
From 1956, the annual Waratah Festival was held in Sydney, run by the Sydney Committee. It took place from late October to early November, coinciding with the blooming of the waratahs. It was an important cultural event which included a parade, a popular art competition, beauty contests, exhibitions and performances.[61] A highlight was the Lord Mayor's reception at the Sydney Town Hall for which the floral displays were made of hundreds of waratahs culled by Park Rangers from the national parks.
In 2009, the Premier of New South Wales, Nathan Rees, commissioned a state logo based on the floral emblem. The resultant logo design has been criticised as resembling a lotus rather than the New South Wales Waratah.[62]
The Waratah window by Alfred Handel in St Bede's Church, Drummoyne. An early 20th century work, it depicts Australian native flowers, the red waratah, emblem of the state of New South Wales; flannel flowers, Christmas bells and wattle (Acacia). The inscription reads "The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork"
Protea cynaroides, also called the king protea, is a flowering plant. It is a distinctive member of Protea, having the largest flower head in the genus. The species is also known as giant protea, honeypot or king sugar bush. It is widely distributed in the southwestern and southern parts of South Africa in the fynbos region.
The waratah (Telopea) is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia. The best-known species in this genus is Telopea speciosissima, which has bright red flowers and is the New South Wales (NSW) state emblem. The waratah is a member of the family Proteaceae, flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The key diagnostic feature of Proteaceae is the inflorescence, which is often very large, brightly coloured and showy, consisting of many small flowers densely packed into a compact head or spike. Species of waratah boast such inflorescences ranging from 6–15 cm in diameter with a basal ring of coloured bracts. The leaves are spirally arranged, 10–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad with entire or serrated margins. The name waratah comes from the Eora Aboriginal people, the pre-European inhabitants of the Sydney area.
Embothrium is a genus of two to eight species in the plant family Proteaceae, native to southern South America, in Chile and adjacent western Argentina; the genus occurs as far south as Tierra del Fuego. Common names include Chilean firebush in English, notro in Argentina, ciruelillo, fosforito or notro chileno in Chilean Spanish.
Banksia ericifolia, the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range. Well known for its orange or red autumn inflorescences, which contrast with its green fine-leaved heath-like foliage, it is a medium to large shrub that can reach 6 m (20 ft) high and wide, though is usually half that size. In exposed heathlands and coastal areas, it is more often 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft).
Banksia spinulosa, the hairpin banksia, is a species of woody shrub, of the genus Banksia in the family Proteaceae, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heathland from Victoria to northern Queensland, generally on sandstone though sometimes also clay soils. It generally grows as a small shrub to 2 metres (7 ft) in height, though can be a straggly tree to 6 metres (20 ft). It has long narrow leaves with inflorescences which can vary considerably in coloration; while the spikes are gold or less commonly yellowish, the emergent styles may be a wide range of colours – from black, purple, red, orange or yellow.
Banksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is native to New South Wales, Australia, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolated population further south around Eden. There are two recognised subspecies, the nominate of which is a spreading shrub to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in height, and subsp. astrolux is a taller shrub to 5 m (16 ft) high found only in Nattai National Park.
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentrations of diversity. Together with the Platanaceae, Nelumbonaceae and in the recent APG IV system the Sabiaceae, they make up the order Proteales. Well-known Proteaceae genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea, Hakea, and Macadamia. Species such as the New South Wales waratah, king protea, and various species of Banksia, Grevillea, and Leucadendron are popular cut flowers. The nuts of Macadamia integrifolia are widely grown commercially and consumed, as are those of Gevuina avellana on a smaller scale.
Isopogon anemonifolius, commonly known as broad-leaved drumsticks, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native only to eastern New South Wales in Australia. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest, and heathland on sandstone soils. I. anemonifolius usually ranges between one and two metres in height, and is generally smaller in exposed heathland. Its leaves are divided and narrow, though broader than those of the related Isopogon anethifolius, and have a purplish tinge during the cooler months. The yellow flowers appear during late spring or early summer and are displayed prominently. They are followed by round grey cones, which give the plant its common name drumsticks. The small hairy seeds are found in the old flower parts.
Alloxylon flammeum, commonly known as the Queensland tree waratah or red silky oak, is a medium-sized tree of the family Proteaceae found in the Queensland tropical rain forests of northeastern Australia. It has shiny green elliptical leaves up to 18 cm (7.1 in) long, and prominent orange-red inflorescences that appear from August to October, followed by rectangular woody seed pods that ripen in February and March. Juvenile plants have large deeply lobed pinnate leaves. Previously known as Oreocallis wickhamii, the initial specimen turned out to be a different species to the one cultivated and hence a new scientific name was required. Described formally by Peter Weston and Mike Crisp in 1991, A. flammeum was designated the type species of the genus Alloxylon. This genus contains the four species previously classified in Oreocallis that are found in Australasia.
Grevillea juniperina, commonly known as juniper- or juniper-leaf grevillea or prickly spider-flower, is a plant of the family Proteaceae native to eastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland in Australia. Scottish botanist Robert Brown described the species in 1810, and seven subspecies are recognised. One subspecies, G. j. juniperina, is restricted to Western Sydney and environs and is threatened by loss of habitat and housing development.
Actinotus helianthi, known as the flannel flower, is a common species of flowering plant native to the bushland around Sydney. It was named and first described by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière in his Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen the first general flora of Australia. According to historian Edward Duyker Labillardière could not have collected the type specimen personally and might have received it from Jean-Baptiste Leschenault de La Tour botanist on the expedition of Nicolas Baudin or another early French visitor to New South Wales.
Grevillea speciosa, commonly known as red spider flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the Central Coast of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped or more or less circular leaves and more or less spherical, downturned clusters of red flowers.
Lambertia formosa, commonly known as mountain devil, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae, endemic to New South Wales, Australia. First described in 1798 by English botanist James Edward Smith, it is the type species of the small genus Lambertia. It is generally found in heathland or open forest, growing in sandstone-based soils. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to around 2 m (7 ft) with a woody base known as a lignotuber, from which it regrows after bushfire. It has stiff narrow leaves, and the pink to red flowerheads, made up of seven individual tubular flowers, generally appear in spring and summer. It gains its common name from the horned woody follicles, which were used to make small devil-figures.
Telopea mongaensis, commonly known as the Monga waratah or Braidwood waratah, is a shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to Australia, it grows at high altitude in south eastern New South Wales, where it is often seen in moist areas at the edge of rainforest or by streams in eucalyptus forests. Growing to 6 m (20 ft) high, it has narrow green leaves 4–18 cm (1.6–7.1 in) in length, and 0.5–2 cm (0.20–0.79 in) wide. In spring bears many red flowerheads, each made up of 28 to 65 individual flowers.
Telopea oreades, commonly known as the Gippsland-, mountain- or Victorian waratah, is a large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Native to southeastern Australia, it is found in wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest on rich acidic soils high in organic matter. No subspecies are recognised, though a northern isolated population hybridises extensively with the Braidwood waratah (T. mongaensis). Reaching a height of up to 19 metres, T. oreades grows with a single trunk and erect habit. It has dark green leaves with prominent veins that are 11–28 centimetres (4.3–11 in) long and 1.5–6 cm (0.6–2.4 in) wide. The red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in late spring. Each is composed of up to 60 individual flowers.
Telopea truncata, commonly known as the Tasmanian waratah, is a plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Tasmania where it is found on moist acidic soils at altitudes of 600 to 1200 m (2000–4000 ft). Telopea truncata is a component of alpine eucalypt forest, rainforest and scrub communities. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to a height of 3 metres (10 ft), or occasionally as a small tree to 10 m (35 ft) high, with red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appearing over the Tasmanian summer and bearing 10 to 35 individual flowers. Yellow-flowered forms are occasionally seen, but do not form a population distinct from the rest of the species.
Telopea aspera, commonly known as Gibraltar Range waratah, is a plant in the family Proteaceae. It grows as a woody shrub to 3 metres (10 ft) high with leathery rough leaves and bright red flower heads known as inflorescences—each composed of hundreds of individual flowers. It is endemic to the New England region in New South Wales in Australia. It was formally described as a species by botanists Peter Weston and Mike Crisp in 1995, separated from its close relative Telopea speciosissima by its rough foliage and preference for dryer habitat. Unlike its better known relative, Telopea aspera has rarely been cultivated.
Alloxylon pinnatum, known as Dorrigo waratah, is a tree of the family Proteaceae found in warm-temperate rainforest of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales in eastern Australia. It has shiny green leaves that are either pinnate (lobed) and up to 30 cm (12 in) long, or lanceolate (spear-shaped) and up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long. The prominent pinkish-red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in spring and summer; these are made up of 50 to 140 individual flowers arranged in corymb or raceme. These are followed by rectangular woody seed pods, which bear two rows of winged seeds.
Pyrogenic flowering is the fire-adapted trait in plants that is defined by an increase or a peak in flowering after a fire event. Pyrogenic flowering allows for plants to persist in fire-prone environments. Pyrogenic flowering can be facultative, meaning the rate of flowering temporarily increases following burning, or obligate, meaning flowering only occurs post-fire. There is high variation in the length of time between when a fire occurs and when pyrogenic flowering is triggered, and it is frequently species specific. Some pyrogenic flowering does not occur until up to a year post-fire whereas in extreme cases some flowers can emerge just hours after fire disturbance. Precise physiological triggers for pyrogenic flowering have not been heavily studied as is likely to vary between groups. Some suggested stimuli of pyrogenic flowering are the increase in light due to loss of canopy or competition, nutrient changes in the soil, or chemicals associated with fires acting as a trigger.
Oreocallis is a South American plant genus in the family Proteaceae. There is only one species, Oreocallis grandiflora, which is native to mountainous regions in Peru and Ecuador.
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↑ Johnson, L. A. S.; Briggs, Barbara G. (1975). "On the Proteaceae: the evolution and classification of a southern family". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 70 (2): 83–182. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1975.tb01644.x.
1 2 3 4 Offord, Cathy A. (2007). "Floral- and leaf-character variation in waratah (Telopea speciosissima, family Proteaceae), with reference to conservation and horticultural improvement". Australian Journal of Botany. 55 (7): 684–91. doi:10.1071/BT06211.
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↑ Denham Andrew J.; Auld, Tony D. (2002). "Flowering, seed dispersal, seed predation and seedling recruitment in two pyrogenic flowering resprouters". Australian Journal of Botany. 50 (5): 545–57. doi:10.1071/BT02009.
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1 2 Whelan, Robert J.; Goldingay, Ross L. (July 1989). "Pollination in Waratah"(PDF). Australian Flora Foundation. Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
↑ Offord, Cathy A. (2004). "An examination of the reproductive biology of Telopea speciosissima (Proteaceae) with emphasis on the role of protandry and self-pollination in fruit set". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 165 (1): 73–83. doi:10.1086/380745. S2CID54511974.
↑ Whelan, Robert J.; Goldingay, Ross L. (1989). "Factors affecting fruit set in Telopea speciosissima (Proteaceae): The importance of pollen limitation". Journal of Ecology. 77 (4): 1123–34. Bibcode:1989JEcol..77.1123W. doi:10.2307/2260827. JSTOR2260827.
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↑ Australian Cultivar Registration Authority. "Telopea 'Corroboree'". ACRA: Descriptions of Registered Cultivars. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
↑ Australian Cultivar Registration Authority. "Telopea 'Wirrimbirra White'". ACRA: Descriptions of Registered Cultivars. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
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Nice, Rosie, ed. (2000). State of the Waratah: The Floral Emblem of New South Wales in Legend, Art & Industry: An Illustrated Souvenir. Sydney: Royal Botanic Gardens. ISBN0-7347-2024-6. OCLC84790848.
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