Crimson bottlebrush

The crimson bottlebrush is an Australian evergreen shrub or small tree whose flower spikes look like the brushes once used to clean bottles, the colour coming from hundreds of long red stamens rather than petals. It has stiff, narrow leathery leaves that smell lemony when crushed, and it is planted worldwide in mild, frost-free gardens, including across the Atlantic islands and Mediterranean.

• The showy red 'brush' is made almost entirely of stamens; the tiny petals drop away almost unnoticed.
• The stem keeps growing straight through the flower spike, so new leaves sprout out of the far end of the brush.
• Woody seed capsules can cling to the branches for years and often only release their dust-fine seed after fire or after the branch dies.

Care
Give it full sun and well-drained soil, water deeply but occasionally once established, and prune lightly just after flowering to keep it bushy.