Family: Proteaceae
Plant: A shrub or small tree up to 3m high.
Flowers: Orange or rusty, small, tubular flowers with 4 rolled-back lobes and a prominent style. Many flowers are crowded into rust coloured spikes 5-8cm long and 2cm diameter.
Flowering: October-November.
Fruit: Woody pear-shaped, rust coloured, follicle 6-9cm long and 3-5cm wide.
Leaves: Opposite, oblanceolate to elliptic 10-20cm long and 3-4.5cm wide, leathery and strongly veined. The young leaves are toothed and the new growth is reddish and covered in rusty hairs.
Habitat: Dry sclerophyll forest and heathland.
Features: Pear-shaped woody fruit. Inflorescence tightly packed with hairy flowers. Tough opposite leaves. The margins of the adult leaves are entire but the young leaves are toothed.
Name:
Xylomelum From Greek = woody apple (referring to its woody fruit).
pyriforme From Latin pyrus = a pear and formis = shaped (referring to the shape of its fruit).
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Type |
Tree, Shrub |
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Flowers |
Form |
Tubular/Bell-shaped, Cluster |
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Colour(s) |
Orange, Rust |
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Petal/Sepal No. |
4, Many |
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Flowering Month |
10, 11 |
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Fruit |
Type |
Other |
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Colour |
Rust |
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Other Features |
Hard |
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Leaves |
Arrangement |
Opposite |
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Type |
Simple |
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Shape |
Oval |
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Length |
Medium, Long |
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Margins |
Entire, Toothed/Serrated |
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Attachment |
Stalked |
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Other Features |
Hairy |
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Bark |
- |
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Habitat |
Dry sclerophyll forest, Heathland |
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