Calothamnus quadrifidus

Calothamnus quadrifidus is an original and decorative shrub from the open forests of southwestern Australia that resembles a pine tree with its silhouette and delicate foliage, and a callistemon with its dazzling flowering. Its bright red summer flowering is abundant and extends over a long period, taking the form of numerous very thin flowers gathered in spikes on one side of the branches. It is a tender plant, but does fairly well in any slightly acidic to limestone soil with good drainage. Magnificent in the ground in the most sheltered gardens, it can also be grown in a large pot and overwintered elsewhere.

Calothamnus quadrifidus is an evergreen shrub from the myrtle family, related to Callistemon, myrtles, and Melaleuca. This botanical species grows naturally on sandy or rocky, clay-limestone or even granite outcrop soils. Its original region is subject to a Mediterranean climate: dry and hot in summer; very mild and humid in winter. When mature, the plant is hardy down to a minium of -4 °C (24.8 °F).

It is a shrub with a variable habit, more or less erect or spreading, but always well branched. Growing rapidly, it will reach about 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in all directions in the ground, but significantly less if grown in a pot. The branches are adorned with simple leaves, needle-shaped with a rounded section, with fine hairs, not exceeding 4 cm (1.6 in) in length, arranged alternately. Their colour is a fairly dark green, sometimes greyish, and they are aromatic when crushed. Flowering occurs from May-June to August. The tiny flowers have prominent stamens of a very bright red, are fused into bundles, called staminal claws, and are very decorative. They are produced in the axils of the leaves on one side of one- or two-year-old branches. Together, they form a spike about twenty centimetres (7.9 inches) long. This flowering, which is honey and nectar-rich, attracts many pollinating insects to the garden. The fruit is a very hard globular capsule. It will retain the small seeds for many years. It is often intense heat that causes the capsules to burst. This characteristic reflects a perfect adaptation to regions regularly subjected to fires.  

Calothamnus quadrifidus has an original conifer-like silhouette, curiously flowering scarlet in summer. With a little care and protection from the cold, it becomes an interesting subject to place as a focal point in a bed of low-growing or creeping plants in a coastal garden. To accompany it, you can choose, for example, creeping rosemary, small-sized cistus (Cistus x pulverulentus, Cistus x skanbergii), Convolvulus cneorum, or Nepeta x faassenii, and so on. In a mixed hedge, it can be combined with Grevillea, Caesalpinia gillesii, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, etc. It can also be paired with a white or yellow oleander, Chilean mimosa or Cassia corymbosa. Its good tolerance to salt allows for coastal exposure, facing wind and spray.