Focus on Flora – Crinkle Bush Lomatia silaifolia

by Spencer Shaw
This one of the outstanding shrubs of our region that should be in every garden – ok that would get a bit boring! However outside of the botany community too few people know about this beautiful little shrub.
In appearance it resembles some of the small shrubby grevillea cultivars (and it shares the same Family of Proteaceae). It only grows to about one to one and half metres, and in the forest can be single stemmed but in the open can be bushy to about one metre wide. Its finely divided leaf gives it the other common names of Parsley Bush and Fern-leaved Lomatia. The White flowers can be carried throughout the warmer months and can be up to twenty centimetres in length – which makes for a pretty spectacular flower in our native bushland. The fruit is a dry follicle that opens to reveal numerous winged seeds, covered in a delicate yellow powder.
Lomatia silaifolia is a hardy shrub, which can survive bushfire by reshooting from the stem base and roots. They are probably looking their best in woodlands a few years after a burn as it reduces competition and they can get their chance to shine!
Found throughout East Coast Australia this stunning local native is not necessarily common, but widespread in our local open woodland communities. You might come across them in the Glasshouse Mountains National Parks, Blackall Range Great Walk, Ben Bennett and so many more bushland parks that contain woodland with an open grassy & shrubby understorey.
If you are lucky enough to get one for the garden from your local native plant nursery, just make sure you plant in a well drained position, with plenty of sun.