Thursday 7 August 2008

Shrub

I saw this gorgeous shrub on one of my walks. I imagine it is a variety of grevillea, but can't remember seeing it before.
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15 comments:

  1. Julie07 August, 2008 15:17

    It certainly is very beautiful and intricate. Not sure about it being a Grevillea though. The leaves don't look right. When you look at the detail of the one on the left and see how it turned out on the right - just terrific. My guess is too that there is another layer of the flower yet to bloom. The leaves look tough and serrated like a banksia.

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  2. Sally07 August, 2008 15:31

    Yes, you are correct about the leaves. It does look more like a banksia. Maybe it is one of the new banksia varieties? I had a huge banksia serrata in my garden and had to have it removed - it was digging up the walkway and the concrete slab under the house.

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  3. Sally07 August, 2008 15:35

    OTOH the flower is shaped more like a telopea (waratah)

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  4. Julie07 August, 2008 15:37

    I have just gone-a-googling. I think it might be a Dryandra which is closely related to the Banksia but only grows naturally in WA. Take a look at this absolutely gorgeous site: http://asgap.org.au/gallery3.html which is the Association for Societies for Growing Australian Plants.

    Plant roots are incredibly strong aren't they? You only have to see what they do to footpaths and roads.

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  5. Sally07 August, 2008 15:42

    Yes, could well be. There are some gorgeous WA plants we don;t see very often over here unless they become nursery stock. So, dyandras are part of the protea family. That makes sense too.

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  6. Jilly07 August, 2008 15:45

    Gorgeous Sally. It looks like a type of Banksia but I've no idea. I tried growing a banksia here but it failed. Just gorgeous it is.

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  7. Julie07 August, 2008 15:45

    That same site says there are only 5 varieties of Waratahs in the species (or species in the genus ... or whatever!). It may not be densely enough packed to be a Waratah although the structure is very similar.

    Whatever ... gorgeous flower and lovely photo.

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  8. Sally07 August, 2008 15:45

    Julie - you've come up trumps. Dyandra it is!

    Click onn the photo here: http://www.mrharmony.com.au/Index.asp?pagename=Plants+I+Really+Like&site=1&siteid=252

    BUT don't look at it too long! The photo is far nicer than mine!!! I will have to go back in a week or so and check on progress of this one.

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  9. Julie07 August, 2008 15:53

    Lordy that is totally out-of-this-world. I am lost for words - not an easy task!

    Nowt to do with your photo, m'dear. More to do with the plant, me thinks. That would be a great progression - to go back every so many days (if it's not tooooo far away) and get it opening out further. I will bookmark that Harmony page.

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  10. Sally07 August, 2008 16:01

    Get this (wikipedia):

    Dryandra is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It was considered a separate genus named Dryandra until early 2007, when it was merged into Banksia on the basis of extensive molecular and morphological evidence that Banksia was paraphyletic with respect to Dryandra.

    They are found only in the southwestern corner of Western Australia. They have never been popular among gardeners among the rest of Australia due to their dislike of the humid and subtropical conditions which dominate the east coast.

    Kingdom: Plantae
    Division: Angiospermae
    (unranked) Eudicots
    Order: Proteales
    Family: Proteaceae
    Genus: Banksia
    Series: Banksia ser. Dryandra

    However, the Association of Societies for Grpwing Australian plants has this to say:

    Transfer of Dryandra to Banksia
    A paper published in February 2007 (see below) has proposed that the genus Dryandra be subsumed into Banksia. The paper publishes new names in Banksia for all currently recognised Dryandra species. At this stage ASGAP is retaining Dryandra as a separate genus until it becomes clear whether the published change will be generally accepted by Australia herbaria.

    Think I'll stick to photography!

    Anyway, I've made it the masthead for my Postcode 2205 blog.

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  11. Julie07 August, 2008 21:35

    Banksia and Dryandra are paraphyletic - sounds painful!

    Ooo - just looked at the masthead. Quite a keen little flowerer, isn't it? All the stages are there for you to follow through. It looks incredibly delicate. That one on the right that is only very young looks like cotton buds. Must be a wonderful sight to see a bush full of flowers like this.

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  12. Z07 August, 2008 23:59

    The curls on the one on the right make me think of peppermint candies.

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  13. Anonymous08 August, 2008 10:54

    This shrub is actually a Leucospermum from South Africa.

    It is also in the proteacea family (including grevilleas, banksias & waratahs from Australia, and proteas, leucadendrons and leucospermums from South Africa).

    This particular variety of leucospermum looks to be either the variety known as "Scarlet Ribbons" or possibly "Mardi Gras".

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  14. Anonymous08 August, 2008 12:49

    The gorgeous banner picture on your postcode 2205 blog clinches it -- another vote for Leucospermum.

    I don't know the genus well enough to guess which one it might be; but why not ask the owner? Any gardener keen enough to grow an out of the ordinary plant like this will know its name.

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  15. Sally08 August, 2008 18:28

    Thankyou so much everyone! If I see the owner I definitely will ask. I am going to keep an eye on it. Went back today.

    My watch on it will go up on Sydney Daily Photo Extra

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