#proteaceae

Hakea in green with birds - Wanda Comrie , 2025.

Australian , b. 1970s

Leucospermum 'Blanche Ito'

Well, spring is here, and the leucospermums are really putting on a show at the Ruth Bancroft Garden. This one is a hybrid named 'Blanche Ito'. Leucospermum is an African genus in the Protea Family, and while these plants are found in southeastern Africa, the majority come from the southwest in the winter-rainfall area. The flower heads feature long styles that extend outward, and this results in the common name "pincushions".

AKA rock grevillea or poker grevillea.

There are three subspecies, all endemic to the semi-arid SW. Two grow near granite, and the other in heaths, sandplains and scrubland. It may reach 4m in height.

Honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) drinking nectar from candlestick banksia (Banksia attenuata) flowers in Western Australia

Hakea francisiana

05-SEP-2025

This weeks microscopy features Grevillea australis (Proteaceae), aka the alpine grevillea! As the name suggests, this plant is native to alpine areas in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania (being the only Grevillea in Tassie). Not to be confused with Grevillea alpina (which is more widespread but more abundant at low altitude, names are weird and can be misleading).

These plants have very typical Proteaceae flowers (four tepals, pollen presenter) that are white-pale pink with brown hairs on the outside of the tepals and a pink-tipped pollen presenter. In this photo you can see one of those pollen presenters absolutely covered in pale yellow pollen (and you can actually make out a lil line of individual pollen grains right along the top of it).

Here's one of an opening flower.

And a closer look into this opening flower. You can see anthers and pollen grains in each tepal. If you look realllllly carefully you may be able to make out that the pollen is triangular. Grevillea and Hakea pollen are triangle shaped.

Like this! This isn't the same species (I took this four years ago, it's most likely from Grevillea jephcottii). They're fat little triangles. Oh, but you see the weird tendril of goo coming out of the central-most pollen grain? That's a pollen tube, it's how pollen fertilises an ovule to make a seed. 😁😁