Telopea - Waratah

Waratah (Telopea) is a genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to southeastern Australia, from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. They have spirally arranged leaves 10-20 cm long and 2-3 cm broad with entire or serrated margins, and large, dense flowerheads 6-15 cm diameter with numerous small red flowers and a basal ring of red bracts. The name waratah comes from the Eora Aboriginal people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area.


USES
Waratahs are popular, though somewhat tricky to grow, ornamental plants in gardens in Australia.


Species
Telopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales Waratah or simply Waratah, is a large shrub in the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia and is the floral emblem of that state. It is renowned for its striking large crimson inflorescences (flowerheads) in spring, each made up of hundreds of individual flowers.
The New South Wales Waratah is a large erect shrub up to 3 or 4 metres (10-13 ft) in height with one or more stems. It has dark-green leaves which are alternate, usually coarsely-toothed and range from 13 to 25 cm (5-10 in) in length. The inflorescences, which appear in spring, are large and crimson coloured. They consist of a 7-10 cm (3-4 in) diameter domed flowerhead ringed by bracts which are 5 to 7 cm (2-3 in) long. These are followed by large seed pods which eventually turn brown and split open revealing winged seeds inside.

Telopea truncata

Telopea aspera

Telopea mongaensis

Telopea oreades

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Telopea - Waratah

Waratah (Telopea) is a genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to southeastern Australia, from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. They have spirally arranged leaves 10-20 cm long and 2-3 cm broad... more >>>

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