Firewheel Tree

Wow! What's that? This flowering beauty never fails to amaze, with its intricately formed, unusual blooms, held in large shiny foliage.

Stenocarpus sinuatus,or known as the Firewheel tree, an Australian rainforest tree in the Protea family is famed for its strikingly, bright red, orange and yellow whorled flowers, which as the name implies looks like wheels of fire! The flowers resemble several members of the family, like Grevilleas and Leucospermum, but they’re arranged in circular clusters (called inflorescences) and resemble the spokes of a wheel. The name comes from the Greek stenos, meaning “narrow” and carpos meaning “fruit”. The species name is derived from the Latin sinuatus meaning “wavy” referring to the leaves rounded edges.

This evergreen tree can reach up to 30’ tall and 20’wide. The long, shiny green leaves are deeply lobed while the tree is young, but older trees lose that youthful trait. The spectacular flowers are 2 to 3” long, usually appearing in summer and fall, but may show up whenever the tree feels like it.

Nectar-seeking birds pollinate the flowers while bats appreciate the taste of its nectar and tree kangaroos and wombats feast on the leaves.