Amongst the unique flora of Australia, the members of the Proteaceae family are indeed a special bunch, worthy of cultivation.
They are a particularly ancient lineage of plants evolving in the Gondwanan super continent and are found in throughout the southern hemisphere.
In Australia this family includes many of our “classic” natives Grevilleas, Banksias and Macadamias!
There are many local favourites in this family that are great as horticultural specimens, let’s start with a few rainforest trees.
The Wheel of Fire – Stenocarpus sinuatus, has dense dark green foliage and is a bushy medium rainforest tree with masses of red flowers that can last a month or two.
Next up, another stunning local is the Silky Oak – Grevillea Robusta, a tall tree occurring naturally in the west of our region and planted widely throughout the landscape.
These forest giants are stunning with their golden flowers that are a great source of nectar for wildlife and their leaf litter is great for improving soils too.
Finally let’s look at one of our local Macadamia’s, the Bopple Nut / Macadamia – Macadamia integrifolia, you might be surprised to learn that these are a rare tree in the wild, but have gone on to be globally famous for their tasty nuts.
They are a beautiful bush medium tree with masses of white flowers, just don’t plant too close to your house as they are favoured by rats!
One of the interesting adaptations of the Proteaceae family is the development of proteoid roots.
These dense clusters of fine rootlets increase the surface area of their root systems dramatically and these enable the plants to make available to themselves more minerals and nutrients in impoverished soils than would otherwise be available, particularly phosphorous.
This is why we need to use special “native” (low phosphorous) fertilisers; because your average Banksia or Grevillea will poison itself with too much phosphorous if we flood the soil with this nutrient.
Many Rainforest Proteaceae are less sensitive when it comes to artificial or natural fertilisers, as are rainforest plants in general, because they are adapted to higher nutrient environments.
Enjoy our unique Proteaceae and their spectacular form and flowers.