Grevillea

Silky oak Grevillea robusta in flower, photographed by Jan Smith.

Belongs within: Grevilleoideae.

Grevillea is a genus of about 270 species of trees and shrubs found in Australia and New Guinea. Outlying species are also found on Sulawesia and New Caledonia. Of the three species found in New Guinea, G. baileyana and G. glauca are shared with northern Australia whereas G. papuana is endemic to New Guinea (Foreman 1995). Some species are popular garden plants for their bright comb-like flowers. One such species is the largest member of the genus, the silky oak G. robusta, a native of coastal eastern Australia growing to over 30 m in height.

Characters (from Foreman 1995): Leaves spiralled to alternate, simple or pinnate, usually with differentiated upper and lower surfaces. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, panicles or raceme-like, sometimes with flowers borne on one side. Peduncles absent. Indumentum adpressed, hairs 2-branched or appearing to be attached near the middle. Flowers bisexual, pedicellate, in pairs, subtended by small, non-persisting bract; floral bracts absent. Perianth mostly recurved; limb oblique, globular, segments coherent at limb for some time after tube splits open. Anthers all perfect, ovate or oblong, sessile in concave limb segments; connective not usually prolonged. Disc fleshy, semi-annular or annular, mostly entire or sometimes more or less bilobed. Ovary shortly stipitate or sessile, 1-locular; ovules 2, hemitropous, attached laterally; style often elongated, protruding from slit on lower side of tube, retained for some time by coherent limb segments, eventually free; pollen presenter more or less dilated, straight, oblique or lateral and disc-like; stigma usually in centre of pollen presenter. Fruit a follicle, coriaceous to woody. Seeds 1 or 2, flat, orbicular or oblong, winged all around or occasionally wingless.

Grevillea
    |--G. acuaria G04b
    |--G. adenotricha LK14
    |--G. agrifolia LK14
    |    |--G. a. ssp. agrifolia LK14
    |    `--G. a. ssp. microcarpa LK14
    |--G. anethifolia G04b
    |--G. arenaria T08
    |    |--G. a. var. arenaria T08
    |    `--G. a. var. canescens T08
    |--G. aspleniifolia H90
    |--G. baileyana McGillivray 1993 (see below for synonymy) F95
    |--G. banksii A91
    |--G. bipinnatifida S35
    |--G. bracteosa B00
    |--G. brownii GK00
    |--G. cagiana G04b
    |--G. caleyi H90
    |--G. chrysodendron C16
    |--G. cirsiifolia M87
    |--G. cravenii LK14
    |--G. cunninghamii LK14
    |--G. decipiens G04b
    |--G. depauperata GK00
    |--G. dimidiata LK14
    |--G. diversifolia GK00
    |--G. donaldiana LK14
    |--G. dryandri LK14
    |--G. erectiloba G04a
    |--G. eriostachya M93
    |--G. eryngioides H18
    |--G. erythroclada LK14
    |--G. fasciculata GK00
    |--G. georgeana G04a
    |--G. glauca Knight 1809 [incl. G. gibbosa Brown 1810] F95
    |--G. goodii M87
    |--G. heliosperma LK14
    |--G. helmsiana H15
    |--G. huegelii G04b
    |--G. ilicifolia R35
    |--G. insignis G04b
    |    |--G. i. ssp. insignis G04b
    |    `--G. i. ssp. elliotii G04b
    |--G. integrifolia S95
    |--G. juncifolia MLP09
    |--G. juniperina B00
    |--G. lanigera G76
    |--G. latifolia LK14
    |--G. laurifolia M87
    |--G. leptobotrys GK00
    |--G. linearis C08
    |--G. longifolia H90
    |--G. lullfitzii G04b
    |--G. maherae LK14
    |--G. microstyla LK14
    |--G. mimosoides LK14
    |--G. monticola LK00
    |--G. myosodes LK14
    |--G. nematophylla G04b
    |--G. obliquistigma G04a
    |--G. paniculata S95
    |--G. papuana Diels 1916 [incl. G. subargentea White 1922] F95
    |--G. paradoxa G04a
    |--G. parallela LK14
    |--G. petrophiloides S95
    |--G. pilosa G04b
    |--G. pilulifera GK00
    |--G. polystachya C16
    |--G. prasina LK14
    |--G. pritzelii S95
    |--G. pteridifolia LK14
    |--G. pterosperma CC03
    |--G. pulchella GK00
    |--G. punicea NC91
    |--G. pyramidalis LK14
    |    |--G. p. ssp. pyramidalis LK14
    |    `--G. p. ssp. leucadendron LK14
    |--G. quercifolia GK00
    |--G. refracta LK14
    |--G. renwickiana von Mueller 1887 M87
    |--G. repens M87
    |--G. robusta SK02
    |--G. sarissa CC03
    |--G. scabra LK00
    |--G. sericea H87
    |--G. stenobotrya B05
    |--G. striata C16
    |--G. trinervis C08
    |--G. wickhamii LK14
    |    |--G. w. ssp. wickhamii LK14
    |    `--G. w. ssp. pallida LK14
    `--G. wilsonii GL04

Grevillea baileyana McGillivray 1993 [incl. G. edelfeltii Muell. 1885 (n. n.), Kermadecia pinnatifida Bailey 1886, G. pinnatifida (Bailey) Bailey 1886 non Jacques 1843] F95

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

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[B05] Beard, J. S. 2005. Drainage evolution in the Lake Disappointment Catchment, Western Australia—a discussion. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 88 (2): 57–64.

[B00] Braby, M. F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution vol. 2. CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood (Victoria).

[C08] Cambage, R. H. 1908. Notes on the native flora of New South Wales. Part VI. Deepwater to Torrington and Emmaville. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 33 (1): 45–65, pls 1–2.

[C16] Cambage, R. H. 1916. Notes on the native flora of tropical Queensland. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 49 (3): 389–447, pls 57–61.

[CC03] Craig, M. D., & A. Chapman. 2003. Effects of short-term drought on the avifauna of Wanjarri Nature Reserve: what do they tell us about drought refugia? Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 86 (4): 133–137.

[F95] Foreman, D. B. 1995. Proteaceae. In: Conn, B. J. (ed.) Handbooks of the Flora of Papua New Guinea vol. 3 pp. 221–270. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Australia).

[G04a] Gibson, N. 2004a. Flora and vegetation of the Eastern Goldfields Ranges: part 6. Mt Manning Range. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (2): 35–47.

[G04b] Gibson, N. 2004b. Flora and vegetation of the Eastern Goldfields Ranges: part 7. Middle and South Ironcap, Digger Rock and Hatter Hill. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (2): 49–62.

[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323–402.

[GL04] Groom, P. K., & B. B. Lamont. 2004. Fruit and seed development in two Hakea species (Proteaceae). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 87 (4): 135–138.

[G76] Gross, G. F. 1976. Plant-feeding and Other Bugs (Hemiptera) of South Australia. Heteroptera—Part II. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia.

[H90] Harden, G. J. (ed.) 1990. Flora of New South Wales vol. 1. New South Wales University Press.

[H87] Haviland, E. 1887. Flowering seasons of Australian plants. No. I—List of plants indigenous in the neighbourhood of Sydney, flowering during July. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1049–1051.

[H15] Hedley, C. 1915. Presidential address. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 49 (1): 1–77, pls 1–7.

[H18] Houston, T. 2018. A Guide to Native Bees of Australia. CSIRO Publishing.

[LK00] Lowrie, A., & K. F. Kenneally. 2000. Three new species of Stylidium (Stylidiaceae) from south-west Western Australia. Nuytsia 13: 293–302.

[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.

[MLP09] McKenzie, N. L., S. van Leeuwen & A. M. Pinder. 2009. Introduction to the Pilbara Biodiversity Survey, 2002–2007. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 78 (1): 3–89.

[M93] Mollemans, F. H. 1993. Drummondita wilsonii, Philotheca langei and P. basistyla (Rutaceae), new species from south-west Western Australia. Nuytsia 9: 95–109.

[M87] Mueller, F. von. 1887. Some hitherto undescribed plants of New South Wales. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1105–1110.

[NC91] Nielsen, E. S., & I. F. B. Common. 1991. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 817–915. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[R35] Rayment, T. 1935. A Cluster of Bees: Sixty essays on the life-histories of Australian bees, with specific descriptions of over 100 new species. Endeavour Press: Sydney.

[S95] Smith, G. T. 1995. Species richness, habitat and conservation of scorpions in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 52: 55–66.

[S35] Solomon, M. E. 1935. On a new genus and two new species of Western Australian Aleyrodidae. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 21: 75–91.

[SK02] Sumithramma, N., A. R. V. Kumar, K. Chandrashekara & D. Rajagopal. 2002. Plant selection for nesting by Oecophylla smaragdina, Hymenoptera: Formicidae: do physical features affect the choice of the plant? Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 408–412.

[T08] Turner, F. 1908. Notes and exhibits. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 33: 288.

Last updated: 23 March 2021.