Mountain grevillea

Description

The Australian flowering shrub Grevillea alpina has several common names, including mountain grevillea, alpine grevillea, and cat's claws. It is not limited to alpine environments, and in fact is less common at high elevation than low. The species is variable in appearance, with five general forms described: small-flowered, Grampians, Northern Victorian, Goldfields, and Southern Hills forms. It is found in dry forests and woodlands across Victoria and into southern New South Wales. Some forms of the plant are low to the ground, and some become a spreading shrub. The flowers come in many colours, from white to green to shades of red and pink, or a pattern of several colours. The curled flowers are 1 to 3 centimetres (0.39 to 1.18 in) in length. It is attractive to nectar-feeding insects and birds. There is considerable variation in the form, leaves and flowers of the species. Plants are between 0.3 and 2 metres (0.98 and 6.56 ft) in height. The leaves may be linear, oblong or elliptic and are generally between 0.5 and 2 centimetres (0.20 and 0.79 in) long and 1.5 to 4 millimetres (0.059 to 0.157 in) wide. Both surfaces of leaves may or may not have hairs. The leaf edges may be curved backwards or revolute. Flower colour is one of the most variable characteristics. The main colour of the perianth may be red, orange or pink or more rarely yellow or cream. There is often a transition of colour along the length of the perianth leading to commonly seen red-yellow or red-cream combinations. The main months of flowering are from August to December in the species' native range. The flowers are followed by hairy, leathery, ovoid fruits (follicles) that are between 8.5 and 12 millimetres (0.33 and 0.47 in) long. These split open, releasing winged seeds. Plants in the genus Grevillea are shrubs, rarely small trees with simple or compound leaves arranged alternately along the branchlets. The flowers are zygomorphic and typically arranged in pairs along a sometimes branched raceme at the ends of branchlets. The flowers are bisexual, usually with four tepals in a single whorl. There are four stamens and the gynoecium has a single carpel. The fruit is a thin-walled follicle that splits down only one side, releasing one or two seeds before the next growing season.