We currently sell six forms of Grevillea australis in the nursery, with a further form under trial. This species is typically, but not always, found at higher altitude in Tasmania, and also grows in the high country of the SE Australian mainland. It is widespread on the central plateau, but also grows naturally round Launceston, in the hills behind Bicheno and a few other places. Grevillea australis is one of a group of Grevilleas that has small, white flowers that are pollinated by bees and butterflies, rather than birds. However, what Tasmania lacks in the number of species and gaudy flowers it makes up in a range of different leaf and growth forms. They are all tough and attractive plants that look good in any garden,
Prostrate Form – This is a hardy alpine form that grows to 30 cm high and spreads to 1.5 m. The abundant flowers that appear in spring are delightfully aromatic, and the leaves are narrow and pointed. This form will cascade happily down a rock wall.
Spreading Form – We grow two spreading forms, which we prosaically label Spreading Form 1 and Spreading Form 2. These are vigorous spreading shrubs to 60 -100 cm high by 1.5 – 2 m high that go well in public plantings and other high-traffic areas. Form 1 is lower, growing to 60 cm, while Form 2 to will reach 80-100 cm.
Hollybank – This form came from Hollybank Reserve, near Launceston. It is a soft-foliaged tall shrub that grows to 2 m with relatively small, more or less oval shaped leaves.
Upright Large-flowered Form – This form originally came from the Huon River, though similar plants occur on the Swan River near Bicheno. It has longer, narrow, but not stiff leaves, and also grows to about 2 m. As its name suggests it has larger flowers than the other forms.
Upright Fine-leaved Form – This form also grows to 2 m, but has much finer leaves and masses of small flowers in spring.
The pictures below show the leaf form of (from left to right) the prostrate form, spreading form 1, spreading form 2, upright large-flowered form, upright fine-leaved form, and the Hollybank form. The grey line at the bottom is the length of a push in tag for scale. Below that are shots of the upright fine-leaved form (left) and upright large-flowered form (right).
