3 
Synonym. — G. umbratica, A. Cunn. (Meissner in De Candolle’s Pro- 
dromus, XIV, 381.) 
Leaves. —The graceful fern-like foliage of this plant causes it to be 
cultivated as a pot plant for table adornment. In Ceylon the tree is much planted, 
and the Tropical Agriculturist says :— 
We have just heard from a mid-Dimbula planter of Grevillea leaves being used as a substitute 
for paddy straw, as a bedding for cattle, sheep, pigs, and even for horses. The trees are lopped up, 
the branches carried to the store, where the leaves speedily drop off and are used for bedding for cattle, 
etc., with satisfactory results, especially in an economical point of view. 
With us the tree is semi-deciduous. 
Bentliam points out that under cultivation the leaf is sometimes a foot long, 
almost tripinnate, with numerous pinnae and narrow acute segments. 
Tassi, in Bull. Lab. ed Orto Botanico di Siena, Ease. 2-3, Tav. XI, 1, 2, 
depicts sections of a leaf and petiole. 
Flowers. —The tree bears a profusion of orange-yellow flowers which, like 
those of most members of the Natural Order to which it belongs, are rich in honey, 
and hence are sought after by bees. They add greatly to the ornamental character 
of the tree which, in full bloom, is a striking object. 
Fruit. —This is sufficiently described by the plate. The winged seeds are 
very light, are suddenly released from the follicle, and are blown away by the wind. 
As the trees are a considerable height it is not always easy to collect the seed just 
as it ripens, and hence it is always expensive. 
Timber. —Its chief characteristic is its fissility. It is light in colour, and 
has a handsome oak-like figure. 
Although distinctly a pretty wood, yet on account of its lightness of colour 
it has not the same rich appearance as many proteaceous timbers. It is moderately 
hard, and works well. Two well-seasoned slabs of this wood have weights which 
correspond to 38 lb. 14 oz. and 36 lb. 2 oz. respectively per cubic foot. In the 
Sydney Mint experiments, 1860, the specific gravity is given at ’564, equivalent to 
a weight of 35 lb. 4 oz. per cubic foot. 
Gamble, Manual of Indian Timbers, page 318, describes an Indian grown 
specimen in the following words :— 
Grevillea robusta has a rough bark, 3-16th inch thick. Wood hard, light reddish brown, sapwood 
greyisli white. Pores moderate sized, scanty, in concentric patches of white tissue. These concentric 
patches are interrupted by the medullary rays, and bend outward where they meet the rays, so that the 
concentric bands have a wavy outline. Medullary rays broad and very broad, very prominent on the 
radial section, showing a beautiful silver grain. The heart-wood seems durable, hut the sap wood decays 
quickly. It would be a handsome furniture wood. 
