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Grevillea 'Lindsay's Pink'

(cultivar)

Family: Proteaceae

A shrub that growing to 4 metres high by about 2 metres wide.

Grevillea ‘Lindsay’s Pink’ is a selected oval leaf form of Grevillea victoriae (although the author’s plants have shorter and more linear leaves).

It has olive/green leaves that range between 50 to 70 mm in length and 10 to 12 mm in width.

A grevillea inflorescence is technically a cluster of paired flowers, termed a conflorescence with the overall structure forming a raceme-like appearance.

Grevillea species exhibit 3 main inflorescence structures:

  1. A cylindrical to ovoid raceme (with flowers emerging around a 360° radius)
  2. A single-sided raceme (with flowers produced on only one side, resembling a tooth-brush)
  3. A condensed or clustered raceme (usually as long as it is wide, with species referred to as the spider-flowers.

Grevillea mostly produce the inflorescences at the terminals, beyond the foliage, which differs to the closely related Hakea.

This cultivar has pendant clusters of orange / pink flowers, appearing in spring and summer, with inflorescences to 9 cm long by 5 cm wide.

Individual flowers are composed of 1 carpel (female part) where the style and stigma protrude out; 4 stamens hidden away in the perianth; and the perianth (petals and sepals collectively) which connects to a pedicel. Proteaceae flowers do not have any discernible petals or sepals (having only one whorl) and so these are referred to as “tepals” of which there are 4. In this cultivar, the carpels are to 30 mm long, orange-red with dark red tips. The perianths are a lighter shade of red-cream. The buds are covered in rusty hairs.

In the garden

Author’s notes:

In a garden situation Grevilleas are good bird-attracting plants as copious quantities of nectar are produced.

Grevillea ‘Lindsay’s Pink’ is a frost resistant, hardy plant that grows at its best in sunny open free draining site. The author has two plants in this situation and they are prolific growers to over 2 meters high and flower profusely.

They are quite heavily pruned back after flowering to maintain a more compact shape. I also have two other plants that receive less direct sunlight and they are much slower growing and flower less. So, if growing this plant, try to select a well-drained sunny spot as they are worth growing and could make an ideal screen if regularly pruned.

This plant is available commercially.

Propagation

Grevilleas are propagated by three principal methods; seed, cuttings and grafting. Tissue culture has also been used with a few species and cultivars but this is a more specialist method which is not of practical interest to most amateur growers. To maintain desirable characteristics of a particular plant, vegetative propagation (e.g. cuttings or grafting) must be used. This also applies to propagation of named cultivars.

Other information

Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands east of the Wallace Line. NSW currently has about 85 species although with a lot of subspecies and some informal taxa recognised.

Grevillea flowers were a traditional favourite among First Nations Peoples for their sweet nectar. This could be shaken onto the hand to enjoy, or into a coolamon with a little water to make a sweet drink. They might be referred to as the original “bush lollies”.

This cultivar is not currently registered with the Australian Cultivar Registration Authority Inc.

Grevillea – was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809), an 18th-century patron of botany and co-founder of the Royal Horticultural Society. He was also a British antiquarian, collector and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1790.

‘Lindsay’s Pink’ – refers to flower colour although the authors plants are more orange in colour than pink.

GB Wildlife Carers – 2016 Plant Drive PDF (Grevillea ‘Lindsay’s Pink’ within) http://www.gbwildlifecarers.org.au/forms/2016%20Native%20plant%20drive%20catalogue.pdf

Burringbar Rainforest Nursery – Facebook Post – Grevillea ‘Lindsay’s Pink’ https://www.facebook.com/burringbarrainforestnursery/posts/lovely-leaf-and-small-pretty-flowersgrevillea-lindsays-pink-prices-from-750vigor/917005341966592/

NSW Flora Online (PlantNET) – Grevillea victoriae profile page                https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Grevillea~victoriae

By Jeff Howes. Editing and additional text by Dan Clarke