Buckinghamia celcissima
Ivory Curl Flower
Coming into flower over the autumn is the Ivory Curl Flower (Buckinghamia celcissima), an Australian native from north eastern Queensland which covers itself in ivory-white flowers similar to Rewarewa flowers. These appear above the leaves and cover the bush. Our specimen was planted about 1997 and started flowering at about 4 years old.
Belonging to the Protea family they can grow to ten metres plus. Seeing a six metre plus tree covered in flower must be a sight to behold and must be especially pleasant on the nose as they have the most beautiful vanilla / honey scent.
It is supposed to be quite tolerant of soil types which is interesting as the Protea family is usually fairly specific to the soils they need. So far it has set no seed which is a pity as it seems seed is the best way to propagate plants.