Callistemon speciosus (Sims) DC.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Callistemon speciosus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/callistemon/callistemon-speciosus/). Accessed 2025-04-20.

Family

Myrtaceae

Genus

Callistemon

Synonyms

Metrosideros speciosa Sims

Infraspecifics

C phoeniceus

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

apex: (pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
glaucous: Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
linear: Strap-shaped.
receptacle: Enlarged end of a flower stalk that bears floral parts; (in some Podocarpaceae) fleshy structure bearing a seed formed by fusion of lowermost seed scales and peduncle.
venation: Pattern of veins (nerves) especially in a leaf.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Callistemon speciosus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/callistemon/callistemon-speciosus/). Accessed 2025-04-20.

A large shrub or small tree to 15 ft high with stout, red-brown branches densely furnished with stiff, leathery, linear-elliptic leaves, pointed at the apex, tapered to a narrow base, 3 to 5 in. long and 3⁄8 to 1⁄2 in. wide; venation prominent. Spikes dense, 4 to 6 in. long and 21⁄2 to 3 in. wide; stamens rich brilliant crimson with golden anthers, about 1 in. long, inserted on the rim of a cup-shaped receptacle which is densely white-hairy on the outside; sepals also hairy on the back. Fruit half-spherical, 1⁄4 in. long and 1⁄4 to 7⁄16 in. wide. Bot. Mag., t. 1761.

A native of W. Australia. It is at least the equal of C. citrinus in the beauty of its spikes. As seen in cultivation the leaves are usually of a rather glaucous grey-green, but this is apparently not a constant character of the species. Some plants in cultivation as “C. speciosus” are a form of C. citrinus.

C phoeniceus Lindl

Another W. Australian species, allied to the preceding. It is a rather diffuse shrub 3 to 8 ft high with slender branches that are brownish or reddish at first, later grey, rather loosely clad with linear or linear-elliptic leaves, acute at the apex, long-tapered at the base, 1{1/2} to 3{1/2} in. long and {3/8} to {5/8} in. wide. Inflorescence commonly 2 to 2{1/2} in. long but sometimes 3 to 3{1/2} in., and about 2 in. wide.; stamens rich crimson; receptacles {1/8} in. long, glabrous like the sepals. Fruits deeply cupular to almost globose, {3/16} in. long, {1/4} in. across. Easily distinguished from C. speciosus by its slender branches, smaller leaves, inflorescences, and fruits, and by its glabrous receptacles and sepals. In the Edinburgh Botanic Garden a specimen of this species flourished in a sheltered border in front of the planthouses for more than twenty years.