Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis

Saturday, October 01, 2011

A perfect Waratah

Despite our clever hybidising techniques, which have greatly increased the floriferousness of the modern hybrid Waratahs, we have not improved the form of the flower of the NSW Waratah, Telopea speciosissima

These are several of the many Waratahs in flower in the East Kangaloon area, just north from Robertson.
Waratahs grow well in Robertson as cultivated plants.They are a feature of our gardens, and our Parks and the local Railway Heritage Railway Station.

However, in my opinion, nothing can beat the perfect form of the wild Waratah.
NSW Waratah - with the bracts still half closed

Here is what I regard as a perfect Waratah flower. 
The bracts are fully open.
NSW Waratah - Telopea speciosissima
Here is the same flower image, cropped a little to show the details.
Cropped image to show tubular flowers of the NSW Waratah
That image shows some of the lower flowers just opening.
The Waratah "flower" is actually a "conflorescence" - a head of flowers.
Each individual flower is tubular in shape, with the inner "stigma" protruding as the flower matures.

For details of the Waratah flower structure, please visit that previous Blog on the subject.

3 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

What a strange looking flower! I like the red color tone and the pics are quite striking.

Denis Wilson said...

Hi Rohrerbot
Like Beauty, strangeness is in the eye of the beholder.
This is one of the vast tribe of Proteaceae, which are more familiar to Aussies and South Africans.
The name means "able to be seen from afar" Tele and opea, which is certainly true.
It is a stand-out in every sense.
Cheers
Denis

Anonymous said...

Magnificent Denis, such a rich, vibrant red. How wonderful to observe them growing in the wild.
Regards
Barbara