Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Grevillea sericea
Common name
Pink spider flower
Family
Proteaceae
Where found
Coast and ranges north of Kiama. Occasionally elsewhere.
subsp. riparia: Dry forest in flood zones of streams. Western part of the Sydney area, and the Blue Mountains.
subsp. sericea: Usually in dry forest. Coast and ranges north of the Illawarra Highway.
Notes
Shrub to 2 m high, sometimes rhizomatous. Leaves alternating up the stems, often in whorls of 3, usually 2.5–12 cm long, 1–9 mm wide, margins entire and curved down, upper surface sparingly dotted, granular along the veins, lower surface appressed hairy. Flowers with 4 'petals' joined together in pairs, 'petals' pink, purplish pink, deep mauve, or white, appressed hairy outside, bearded inside. Gynoecium 14–19 mm long; style pink, rarely mauve, red or white, mostly hairless. Flower clusters usually curved down, one-sided, 1.5–6 cm long. Flowering: all months, mainly August–December.
In the absence of specific information, seeds of all species of Grevillea have been keyed as having one wing.
subsp. riparia: Leaves 6–12 cm long, 1–3 mm wide; flower clusters usually enclosed within the foliage; flowers purplish pink or deep mauve.
subsp. sericea: Leaves up to 6 cm long (usually up to 3 cm long), 3–9 mm wide; some or all flower clusters standing clear of the foliage; flowers deep to pale pink or white.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Grevillea~sericea (accessed 19 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
