Stenocarpus sinuatus, known as the Firewheel Tree is an Australian rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 tree in the Protea

Proteaceae

Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...

 family. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River

Nambucca River

The Nambucca River is a river, about in length, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.The region drained by the Nambucca River consists of the coastal plain to the Great Dividing Range. Taylors Arm and Nambucca Creek meet just before Macksville. The river estuary is located at...

 (30° S) in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 to the Atherton Tableland

Atherton Tableland

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around...

 (17° S) in tropical Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. However, Stenocarpus sinuatus is widely planted as an ornamental tree in other parts of Australia and in different parts of the world.

Other common names include White Beefwood, Queensland Firewheel Tree, Tulip Flower, White Oak and White Silky Oak.

Description

A medium to large tree, up to 40 metres tall and 75 cm in trunk diameter. The bark is greyish brown, not smooth and irregular. The base of the cylindrical trunk is flanged.

Leaves alternate but variable in shape. Simple or pinnatifid, the leaf margins wavy. 12 to 20 cm long. Leaf venation is clearly seen above and below the leaf. Leaves are characteristic and easily identified as part of the Protea

Proteaceae

Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...

 family.

The ornamental flowers are bright red in umbels, in a circle like formation. Hence the name Firewheel Tree. Flowers form mostly between February to March. The fruit is a follicle

Follicle (fruit)

In botany, a follicle is a dry unilocular many-seeded fruit formed from one carpel and dehiscing by the ventral suture in order to release seeds, such as in larkspur, magnolia, banksia, peony and milkweed....

, in a boat shape, 5 to 10 cm long. Inside are many thin seeds 12 mm long. Fruit matures from January to July.

Regeneration from fresh seed occurs speedily. Cuttings also strike well.

In Art

The flower (as Wheel Flower) is the subject of some of Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston

Margaret Preston was a well-known Australian artist. She was highly influential during the 1920s to 1940s for her modernist works as a painter and printmaker and for introducing Aboriginal motifs into contemporary art.-Early life:...

's most popular prints