031 - Australia

(postal card) Waratah (Telopea) is a bundle of about 1000 hair shrubs or small trees in the Proteaceae, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales and 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. Within the Proteaceae, their closest relatives appear to be the genera Alloxylon (Tree Waratahs), Oreocallis and Embothrium, a group of generally terminal red-flowering plants which skirt the southern edges of the Pacific Rim. Together they make up the subtribe Embothriinae within the family.

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Grevillea mucronulata, also known as Green Spider Flower, is a shrub which is endemic to New South Wales in Australia. This species is a spreading to erect shrub which usually grows to between 0.3 and 2 metres in height. Its leaves are elliptic, obovate or round. The green flowers appear predominantly from late autumn to mid spring (May to October in Australia). The species occurs in dry sclerophyll woodland or heathland in the upper Hunter Valley, the Sydney region and southward along the coast towards Eden where it is found in isolated pockets. As the green flowers are camouflaged within the foliage, this species has not proved as popular in horticulture as other species within the genus, beyond being grown by collectors.