A fairly narrow evergreen tree to 20 m or so tall, often with the branches and foliage high up. Leaves dark green above, pale below, varying in shape from lanceolate to deeply lobed and 15-25 cm long, sometimes undulate, tip blunt. Leaf stalk 1-3 cm long. Flower clusters of 15-20 flowers arranged around a central hub like a wheel on a common stalk, 5-8 cm long. Flowers bright red; Mar-June. Fruit woody, boatshaped, 6-9 cm long; seeds about 2.5 cm long.

Grows naturally along the E coast from the Clarence River to the Atherton Tableland, mostly in open forest. Used ornamentally and as a street tree for the rich foliage and wheel-like flowers.

Qld, NSW.

VIC: Balwyn (Maranoa Gds, in arboretum, ptd 1929 by Critchley Parker); Melbourne (Royal Bot. Gds, Princes Lawn; Metropolitan Golf Course); Prahran (Victoria Gds); S Melbourne (St Vincent Gds). NSW: Sydney (Centennial Park, ptd 1956).

Source: Spencer, R.; Molyneux, B.; Mathews, D. (2002). Proteaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.