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Grevillea speciosa

Grevillea speciosa
Photo: Eric in SF, CC BY-SA 3.0

Grevillea speciosa, the red spider flower, is an erect Australian shrub grown for its red spider-like flower clusters. It does best in full sun or part shade in well-drained sandy loam or clay soil.

Family
Proteaceae (Protea family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Acidic or neutral, well-drained sandy loam or clay.
Temperature
Tolerates a wide range of climates; protect from hard frost.
How easy
Easy
Native range
CE. New South Wales
Climate
subtropical

About

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.

How to grow it

This species is available in many nurseries and is cultivated for its brightly-coloured, usually red flowers. Pink-flowered forms exist, and may be a result of hybridisation with other grevilleas.

It tolerates a wide variety of climates and can be grown in coastal or inland environments. It does best in a full-sun or part-shade position in either acidic or neutral sandy loam or clay soil that is well-drained but not too dry.

Where it grows

Red spider flower grows on ridgetops and hillsides in moist heath, low woodland and forest in sandy soil from Gosford, Kulnura and Bucketty to just south of Port Jackson on the central coast of New South Wales.

Other Grevillea plants

Grevillea acacioides · Grevillea acanthifolia · Grevillea acerata · Grevillea acrobotrya · Grevillea acropogon · Grevillea acuaria · Grevillea adenotricha · Grevillea agrifolia · Grevillea albiflora · Catclaws Grevillea · Grevillea alpivaga · Grevillea althoferorum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Grevillea speciosa 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.

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