CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

SILVER OAK

Grevillea robusta

Botanical name	: Grevillea robusta A.Cunn. ex R.Br.
Synonym	: Grevillea umbratica A.Cunn. ex Meisn.
Vernacular name	: Silver Oak, Silky-oak
Family	: Proteaceae
About the Tree	: Grevillea is a deciduous tree native to Australia and Exotic to India. Crown conical, dense, with branches projecting upwards. Bole straight, branchless for up to 15 m, up to 80 (max. 120) cm in diameter, usually without buttresses
Height	: Grows up to 12-25 m.
Bark	: Bark is fissured, dark grey to dark brown, inner bark reddish-brown.
Leaf	: Leaves alternate, fernlike, pinnately (almost bipinnately) compound, 15-30 cm long, ex stipulate, 11-21 pairs side axes (pinnae), 4-9 cm long, deeply divided into narrow, long, pointed lobes 6-12 mm wide, upper surfaces shiny dark green and hairless, underneath silky with whitish or ash-coloured hairs.
Flower	: Flower clusters are showy, yellowish numerous, paired 7.5-15 cm long, unbranched, arising mostly from the trunk, in a terminal or axillary simple or branched raceme, petals 4 united into a tube , 4 narrow yellow or orange sepals 12 mm long , stamens 4 sessile in the concave limb, style curved and protruding from a slit in the perianth tube, the apex free from the limb, eventually straight, persistent
Fruits	: Fruits pod-like, broad, slightly flattened (boat shaped), 2 cm long, black with long slender stalk. Seeds 1 or 2, 10- 13 mm long, elliptical, brown, flattened with wing, usually oblique and opening along the ventral margin.
Season	: It is in flower from April to May.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: There are no medicinal uses listed for Grevillea robusta. However The plant yields small quantities of a gum resin, Intense yellow and green dyes are obtained from the leaves : Flowers look like huge furry orange-gold caterpillars crawling across the branches. They are full of nectar and drink it straight from the flowers, or make a drink from them. The flowers are said to be very rich in vitamin C.