Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Telopea
Species: T. speciosissima
Binomial name: Telopea speciosissima
Synonyms: Embothrium speciosissimum, Hylogyne speciosa.
Common names: New South Wales Waratah, NSW Waratah
Telopea speciosissima is a large, long-lived shrub (3 or 4 m and 2 m wide) with dark, oblong, evenly toothed, green leaves in the plant genus Telopea which is in the family Proteaceae (Proteas). It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia and is the floral emblem of that state.
The species is well renowned for its striking large bright red conflorescences (a compound inflorescence consisting of two or more unit inflorescences.), each including hundreds of individual flowers, over a six-week period in spring (September-October), but later in cooler areas.
It has several stems that arise from a pronounced woody base known as a lignotuber (a woody swelling of the root crown)
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Diagram of the conflorescence and flower parts.
