Botanical name of this fast growing evergreen tree is Grevillea robusta and belong to Proteaceae* family. The tree is native to east coast of Australia but is found growing in abundance in India.
There is huge forest of Silver Oak tree off Kanakpura road. The tree gets its name as the leaves underside is silver. The leaves are bipinnate and can be 30 cm long.
The Silver Oak trees can grow up to 25 to 35 meters tall. The flowers are the most fascinating part of this tree, they are extremely unusual. The flowers are golden-orange washing brush like blooms and are toxic. The flower bunches are 15 cms long. The seeds are 2cm long dark brown capsules with winged seeds.
The Silver Oak tree is used in construction of buildings, cricket bats and furniture.
The pictures of this blooming Silver Oak tree was taken in Madiwala lake, Bangalore.
*Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants. Mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, it is a fairly large family, with around 80 genera but fewer than 2000 species.
