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Xanthostemon chrysanthus
Also called River penda
In Singapore: Golden Penda, Golden Myrtle, Black Penda, 金蒲桃, 黄花树 (Grown in Singapore)
Golden penda is a tree in the myrtle family, native to north eastern Queensland, grown for its showy golden flowers. It is the floral emblem of Cairns and does best in warm, sunny, well-drained gardens.
Xanthostemon chrysanthus, commonly known as golden penda, is a species of tree in the myrtle family Myrtaceae which is endemic to (found only in) north eastern Queensland, Australia. It is a popular garden plant with showy yellow blooms, and is the floral emblem of the city of Cairns.
Xanthostemon chrysanthus is cultivated as an ornamental plant for use in gardens and park landscaping but will only reach about 12 m (39 ft) in height in such situations. Its horticultural appeal stems from its profuse and attractive flowering. It can be propagated by seed or cuttings but will flower sooner when grown from cuttings. It grows well in subtropical gardens with fair drainage and sunny aspect, but in cooler climates such as Sydney, the tree will not flower as profusely as it does in its native range.
The native range of the golden penda is from the Seaview Range near Ingham northwards to the area around the Pascoe River in Cape York Peninsula. It is most commonly found alongside creeks and rivers in rainforest, and at altitudes from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
Xanthostemon verdugonianus · Xanthostemon verticillatus · Xanthostemon youngii · Xanthostemon
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Xanthostemon chrysanthus 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.
