Grevillea speciosa

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Red Spider Flower

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Grevillea
Species:	G. speciosa

Binomial name

Grevillea speciosa
(Knight) McGill.

Grevillea speciosa, also known as Red Spider Flower, is a shrub which is endemic to New South Wales in Australia.

1 Description
2 Distribution
3 Taxonomy
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Description

This species is a shrub, growing up to 3 metres in height. Its leaves are narrow-obovate to round or elliptic to narrow-elliptic . The flowers which are red, or occasionally pink, appear predominantly from late winter to late spring (August to November in Australia) but appear sporadically throughout the year.

[edit] Distribution

The species occurs in Sydney and the surrounding area in moist areas within dry sclerophyll woodland or heathland.

[edit] Taxonomy

The species was first formally described in James Edward Smith's 1793 A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland as Embothrium sericeum var. major. In 1809 the plant was rediscovered, and Joseph Knight published it as Lysanthe speciosa, not realising that his material was attributable to Smith's E. sericeum var. major. In 1975 the species was transferred into Grevillea as G. speciosa. Smith's precedence would not be discovered until 2000.

Other synonyms include:

Grevillea dubia R.Br.
Grevillea punicea R.Br.
Grevillea punicea var. crassifolia A.A.Ham.
Grevillea punicea R.Br. var. punicea

Grevillea speciosa subsp. oleoides (Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f.) McGill. is currently regarded as a species in its own right: Grevillea oleoides Sieber ex Schult. & Schult.f.