“Golden Penda Flower”
Day 42 of 366 Day Project
“Magic is everywhere, explore & be amazed everyday!”
This week’s photo is a close up shot of the spidery golden yellow flowers from the Golden Pena tree. The botanical name is Xanthostemon chrysanthus, known to its friends as Golden Penda or ‘Expo Gold’.
This spectacular tree originates from the coastal forests of northeast coastal Queensland, and is closely related to the better-known bottlebrushes and eucalypts.
Golden Penda grows up to 15 meters in its natural habitat, but in cultivation it is generally much smaller. Leaves are elliptical; dark shiny green with reddish new growth. Judicious pruning will contain this tree to a large dense shrub and result in massed flowers over the canopy.
Golden Penda flower in north Queensland, through to autumn according to its climatic situation. The flowers form hundreds of spidery golden yellow flowers, grouped in dense spherical terminal heads up to 150mm in diameter. The blooms are very attractive to nectar feeding birds.
When the water’s running low and the garden’s looking glum, native trees like this beauty might be the answer.
Did you know that the Golden Penda was selected as the theme plant for World Expo 88 in Brisbane planted en-mass in flower as small shrubs presenting as a ‘Sea of Gold‘. It was marketed as ‘Expo Gold’ and has been popular ever since for gardens in southeast Queensland and beyond.
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