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Adenanthos sericeus
Also called Woolly Bush
Coastal woollybush is a shrub from the south coast of Western Australia, valued for its silky, silvery foliage and tolerance of salt winds. It needs very good drainage and dry conditions, and it dislikes humid climates.
Adenanthos sericeus, commonly known as woolly bush, is a shrub native to the south coast of Western Australia. It has bright red but small and obscure flowers, and very soft, deeply divided, hairy leaves.
Though its flowers are inconspicuous, A. sericeus is considered an attractive garden plant for the colour and texture of its dense foliage. Its high tolerance of salt-laden winds makes it an excellent screen plant in coastal areas. In the Albany area, branches or entire potted plants are used as Christmas trees, since young plants are shaped like small pine trees but have a silky feel. One study of application of controlled-release fertiliser to A. sericeus in pots found it benefited from increasing levels of fertiliser, whereas other species plateaued at lower levels.
Propagation is by cuttings. These strike readily, but care must be taken not to mist the foliage too much, or it will rot. It requires very good drainage, and performs poorly in humid areas. Lacking a lignotuber, it tolerates only light pruning.
Adenanthos sericeus has a disjunct distribution spanning about 500 km (300 mi) of the south coast of Western Australia. A. sericeus subsp. sericeus occurs mostly around King George Sound, extending west as far as Torbay Inlet and east almost to Cape Riche; it sometimes occurs very close to the sea. There is then a gap of over 300 km (200 mi) to the populations of A. sericeus subsp. sphalma at Cape Le Grand. Another group of A. sericeus subsp. sphalma occurs 100 km (60 mi) further east at Cape Arid.
Adenanthos apiculatus · Bridlebush · Adenanthos drummondii · Jugflower
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Adenanthos sericeus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
