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Telopea speciosissima
Also called Waratah
A large native Australian shrub, up to 3 to 4 m tall, famed for its crimson domed flowerheads in spring. Grow it in open, well-drained, slightly acidic sandy soil with dappled light and good air movement.
Telopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales waratah or simply waratah, is a large shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. No subspecies are recognised; the closely related Telopea aspera was classified as a separate species in 1995. T. speciosissima is a shrub to 3 or 4 m (9.8 or 13.1 ft) high and 2 m (6.6 ft) wide, with dark green leaves. Its several stems arise from a pronounced woody base known as a lignotuber. The species is well renowned for its striking large red springtime inflorescences (flowerheads), each including hundreds of individual flowers. These are visited by the eastern pygmy possum (Cercartetus nanus), birds such as honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and various insects.
The New South Wales waratah was a popular garden plant at the beginning of the 20th century. It had been introduced early (1789) into the United Kingdom, and was reported flowering for the first time in 1809 at Springwell, the villa of one E. J. A. Woodford Esq. The Royal Horticultural Society awarded it an Award of Merit in 1914, and a First Class Certificate in 1922.
Initially, waratahs were picked from the bushland for market, but by the early 20th century, a few plantsmen grew concerned at the development of urban areas at the expense of bush, particularly areas noted for wildflowers. Percy Parry of Floralands in Kariong developed the idea of "Preservation by Cultivation" and investigated the commercial cultivation of waratahs and other native plants. Meanwhile, the New South Wales Government was looking to curb flower and plant collecting from the wild, and considered prohibition in 1944, but after witnessing the ability of Parry to manage and develop cultivation, introduced compulsory licences for wildflower collecting the following year.
The species is found in New South Wales (Australia) from the Watagan Mountains southward to Ulladulla, with a relatively widespread distribution in the Central Coast region. It usually occurs as an understory shrub in open forest on sandy soils in areas with moderately high rainfall, receiving on average around 1,200 mm (47 in) a year. Dappled shade from eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) trees reduces sunlight by around 30%. Much of its range occurs in the Sydney Basin, an area with one of the highest human populations and most intense development in Australia. The impact of habitat fragmentation and decreased fire interval (time between bushfires) on the gene pool of Telopea speciosissima, which relies on outcrossing, is unclear. Although largely protected within National Parks and conservation reserves in the Sydney area, most populations are small, numbering under 200 plants, and are often located near urban developments.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Telopea speciosissima 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.
