Home / Education and Outreach / Interpretative Signs / Grevillea victoriae
Grevillea victoriae
The silver-grey, eastern Australia shrub Grevillea victoriae (Proteaceae) produces its vermillion bird-pollinated flowers throughout the winter in the Vancouver area.
The flowers have no petals, but the fuzzy orange calyx tube splits in four when ripe, and curls back to expose a red interior and style. Grevilleas are protandrous (pollen release precedes female receptivity) and pollen is carried on the stigma in a position to be collected by pollinators. Locally, hummingbirds are commonly seen feeding at grevillea flowers and may effect pollination. Most of the 250 species in the genus are native to Australia; the name commemorates Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809), a founder of the Royal Horticulture Society.
