Looks like a macadamia tree...?

Definately not a Macadamia.

I saw them in Aus. Flowers very different and leaves not as long as these.

Perhaps a Grevillea? There are a zillion species but I am only familiar with a tiny handful.

At first I thought it might be Embothrium - a Protea-family tree from Chile - but the leaves are all wrong.

If I were to hazzard a SWAG it would be a Banksia.

Also: I dont seem to be able to respond on the other red flowered shrub page - it is a Cestrum, probably C. ‘Newellii’.

Ah, Knightia excelsa from NZ.

The flowers are somewhat different, but the rest looks very similar to my macadamia tree - is it related?

Carol, they are related plants in the Protea family.

How have I studied Proteaceae for years but never seen a Knightia excelsa? It’s lovely! How cold is Cornwall? Grab some seeds next time you’re there thefof!

Thanks, one and all, especially iochroma. You hit it. Nice one.

Carol. Further research does show that it is more similar to Macadamia than I thought/remembered. All Macadamia I saw in Australia were cultivated, so overall appearance did throw me.

macranthos. The garden where this is, Morrab Gardens, is full of allsorts of plants, with many from Aus/NZ, and other places, eg Wollemia nobilis, Grevillias , Phyllocladus, Puyas, and a 30'+ Metasequoia.

I pop down there every few months, and ALWAYS spot something I hadn't seen before.

They did attempt, at one point, a couple of Banksia, but they expired. I suspect that they suffered from phosphorus toxidity. A pity as I love the Banksias.

Temperatures, on average, are lows of 4C (39F), but -4C has been recorded. Many of their plants would NOT like that temperature, but being only 150m from the sea they probably wouldn't get that low.

Ok, so they are squarely USDA Zone 9… pity. It would have been fun to grow that one. thanks for posting it!

Thanks thefof

Macranthos: where do you garden? Do you grow other Protea-family plants?

I will say I have never seen Knightia in North America, but I must have seen in NZ and it just didn’t stick to any of my neurons.

It should grow well here in San Francisco, so now I have to find some seed...

iochroma

As I said, I do pop down there quite often, as it is <20 miles away, and will check to see if it fruits.

If it does, I'll harvest some and message you.

I'm not sure if they are self fertile. Acording to Flower biology in New Zealand they are possibly self pollinating, in addition to "the birds and the bees".

The Rewarewa of the Tangihua Ranges however states "The complicated flower structure is is to prevent cross pollination and has adapted to bird pollination." I'm not sure quite what he means by "cross pollination" as it is monotypic and suspect he meant "self pollination"

For what it's worth, an NZ seller is offering Seeds on EBay.

Fof