grevillea robusta

So, last year I noticed these trees popping up everywhere around here. From a distance they reminded me very much of the Western Australian “Christmas Tree” (Nuytsia floribunda). I didn’t think to take a photo of the gorgeous flowers on the tree last year, but this year I parked at the local library and wandered through the Heritage Orchard to the two tall trees that I first noticed in the middle of all the apricot trees. Once I got up close to the flowers, I thought, “Hmmm, these look like grevillea flowers, but on a huge tree?” So, I’ve since found out that these trees are actually the grevillea robusta aka Australian Silver Oak. At least I was right about it being from my home country, just not my home state. Still, what a stunner: