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Telopea oreades
Also called Victorian Waratah, Tree Waratah, Mountain Waratah
Gippsland Waratah is a large shrub or small tree from the Proteaceae family, native to wet forests of southeastern Australia. It needs well-drained yet consistently moist, slightly clay-containing acidic soil and does best in part shade.
Telopea oreades, commonly known as the Gippsland-, mountain- or Victorian waratah, is a large shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. Native to southeastern Australia, it is found in wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest on rich acidic soils high in organic matter. No subspecies are recognised, though a northern isolated population hybridises extensively with the Braidwood waratah (T. mongaensis). Reaching a height of up to 19 metres (62 feet), T. oreades grows with a single trunk and erect habit. It has dark green leaves with prominent veins that are 11–28 centimetres (4.3–11 in) long and 1.5–6 cm (0.6–2.4 in) wide. The red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appear in late spring. Each is composed of up to 60 individual flowers.
In the garden, T. oreades grows in soils with good drainage and ample moisture in part-shaded or sunny positions.
Telopea oreades needs a well-drained location as well as reliable moisture to thrive. Soil with some clay content is beneficial. It is more shade-tolerant than the more popular New South Wales waratah, preferring part-shade but tolerating sunny aspects. It tolerates moderate frosts. Plants can be hard-pruned—lopping old stems and branches can rejuvenate mature plants. Plants can benefit from low-phosphorus fertilizer applied in spring and autumn. Propagation is by seed, the germination rates of which fall significantly after several months' storage unless refrigerated, or by cuttings of new growth that has just hardened. Cultivars must be propagated by cutting to make daughter plants identical to the parent.
T. oreades has been grown successfully in England. The plant was first cultivated there by Canon Arthur Townsend Boscawen at Ludgvan in Cornwall from seed that he obtained in 1910. He had succeeded in bringing the plant into flower by 1915, providing material for illustration in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1916.
Telopea oreades occurs in moist forests and temperate rainforests of coastal ranges and tableland escarpments in two disjunct areas of southeastern Australia. The first is centred on East Gippsland in Victoria, from Orbost to the vicinity of Eden across the border in far southeastern New South Wales. There is a more northerly population around the Monga Valley near Braidwood, New South Wales extending to Moss Vale. There are unconfirmed reports of the species in the vicinity of Brown Mountain and Glenbog State Forest in southern New South Wales, which lie between the two areas. Plants in Victoria are found at altitudes ranging from 200 metres (660 ft) in Lind National Park to 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) on Mount Ellery. Wetter eastern and southern slopes are favoured habitats, and the annual rainfall ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 mm (39 to 79 in).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Telopea oreades 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.
