Firewheel tree

Description

Stenocarpus sinuatus, known as the firewheel tree, is an Australian rainforest tree in the family Proteaceae. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River (30° S) in New South Wales to the Atherton Tableland (17° S) in tropical Queensland. Stenocarpus sinuatus is widely planted as an ornamental tree in other parts of Australia and in different parts of the world. Other common names include the white beefwood, Queensland firewheel tree, tulip flower, white oak and white silky oak. A medium to large tree, up to 40 metres tall and 75 cm in trunk diameter. The bark is greyish brown, not smooth and irregular. The base of the cylindrical trunk is flanged. Leaves alternate and variable in shape, simple or pinnatifid, the leaf margins wavy. 12 to 20 cm long. Leaf venation is clearly seen above and below the leaf. Leaves are characteristic and easily identified as part of the Protea family. The ornamental flowers are bright red in umbels, in a circular formation, hence the name Firewheel Tree. Flowers form mostly between February to March. The fruit is a follicle, in a boat shape, 5 to 10 cm long. Inside are many thin seeds 12 mm long. Fruit matures from January to July. Regeneration from fresh seed occurs speedily. Cuttings also strike well. The flower (as Wheel Flower) is the subject of some of Margaret Preston's most popular prints. Stenocarpus is a genus of about 22 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. They are trees or shrubs with variably-shaped leaves, zygomorphic, bisexual flowers, the floral tube opening on the lower side before separating into four parts, followed by fruit that is usually a narrow oblong or cylindrical follicle. Plants in the genus Stenocarpus are trees or shrubs with leaves that may be simple, compound or lobed, depending on the species. The flowers are arranged in umbels or racemes at or near the ends of branches and are zygomorphic and bisexual. Four tepals form a flower tube that opens on the lower side at first before separating into four with a spherical end, there are four sessile anthers, the single carpel is stalked and the pollen presenter is an oblique, flattened disc. The fruit is a follicle that usually opens by splitting down one side and contains up to fifty seeds.