Plant of the Month, Grevilleas

Grevillea cv. 'Robyn Gordon', Australia (credit: SWP Media)

Australia has a rich heritage of indigenous plants whose history stretches back to the ancient land of Gondwana. This diversity offers many choices that could easily be 'plant of the month' candidates.

The continent is rich in representatives from the Protea family (Proteaceae), named for the Greek god Proteus who could change his form. In Australia, this family of native plants includes species of Hakea, Banksia, Isopogon, and Grevillea. Many are highly their restricted in distribution, sometimes known from a single mountain top. Grevilleas consist of over 350 species known so far and numerous hybrids. The flowerhead typically has individual flowers arranged in a radiating bundle of stamens to attract pollinators, particularly birds like Australian Honeyeaters. Two species from Western Australia.

                         Grevillea manglesii  and Olive-left Grevillea Grevillea olivacea,  (credit: SWP Media)

Two videos discuss Grevilleas and the book, The Definitive Guide to Australian Plants is excellent. WHB

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