''Grevillea speciosa'', commonly known as red spider flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Central Coast Central Coast may refer to: Australia * Central Coast (New South Wales), an official region of New South Wales, Australia ** Central Coast Council (New South Wales), a local government area in New South Wales ** Central Coast Mariners, the profes ...

of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with elliptic to egg-shaped or more or less circular leaves and more or less spherical, downturned clusters of red flowers.

Description

''Grevillea speciosa'' is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of , its branchlets covered with silky to shaggy hairs. The leaves are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, or more or less circular, mostly long and wide with the edges turned down. The lower surface of the leaves is silky to softly-hairy. The flowers are arranged in large, downturned, dome-shaped to spherical clusters long, the flowers red, rarely pink or very rarely cream-coloured. The

pistil Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

is long and the

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

is gently curved. Flowering mainly occurs from July to October, and the fruit is an elliptic to narrowly oval follicle long. It is distinguishable from the similar '' Grevillea oleoides,'' mainly by its shorter, more ovate leaves.

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1809 by Joseph Knight who gave it the name ''Lysanthe speciosa'' in ''

On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae "On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae" is an 1809 paper on the family Proteaceae of flowering plants. Although nominally written by Joseph Knight (gardener), Joseph Knight as a paper on cultivation techniques ...

''. In 1975, Donald McGillivray moved it to the genus ''Grevillea'' as ''Grevillea speciosa'' in the journal '' Telopea''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''speciosa'') derives from Latin ''speciosus'' meaning "showy".

Distribution and habitat

Red spider flower grows on ridgetops and hillsides in moist heath, low woodland and forest in sandy soil from

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

Kulnura Kulnura () is a rural suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of Mangrove Mountain along the George Downes Drive. Kulnura is located within the local government area. Kulnura's name is an Aborig ...

and

Bucketty Bucketty is a locality in the City of Cessnock local government area (LGA), in New South Wales, Australia. It is in the south of the LGA, immediately adjacent to the border with the City of Hawkesbury and Central Coast Council, in the Hunter Reg ...

to just south of

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

on the central coast of New South Wales.

Conservation status

''Grevillea speciosa'' is listed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

. It has an estimated population of 30,000-50,000 mature individuals and is likely declining due to increased urbanisation leading to habitat loss, as well as competition with invasive weeds and an increase in fire frequency and intensity.

Use in horticulture

This species is available in many nurseries and is cultivated for its brightly-coloured, usually red flowers. Pink-flowered forms exist, and may be a result of hybridisation with other grevilleas. It tolerates a wide variety of climates and can be grown in coastal or inland environments. It does best in a full-sun or part-shade position in either acidic or neutral sandy loam or clay soil that is well-drained but not too dry.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5228404 speciosa Flora of New South Wales Proteales of Australia Plants described in 1809