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 2024-10-11.

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

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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 2024-10-11.

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.