Species: Lomatia fraseri
Family: Proteaceae
Derivation:

Lomatia: From the Greek, loma, a fringe or border, referring to the papery wing that surrounds the seed. Pronounced lo-may-tee-a or lo-may-sha.

fraseri: Named in honour of Charles Fraser (1788-1831), who was placed in charge of what is now the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney in 1816 and was given the title of ‘Colonial Botanist’ in 1821.

Common Name: Silky, Forest or Tree Lomatia
Distribution: Found in New South Wales in heaths, open woodlands and forests along the Great Dividing Range from roughly Grafton in the north and south to Victoria and Tasmania, where it favours sheltered gullies at altitudes up to 1500m.
Description:A very variable shrub with height dependant on its habitat, 50cm tall in exposed situations and up to 2 metres tall by 1 metre across in high altitude forests (e.g. Snowy Range in Victoria) or a small tree to 7 metres tall (e.g. on the banks of Lake Tali Karng in Victoria). Leaves are also very variable, ranging from entire oblong, elliptical or ovate with regular or irregular toothed margins, to pinnately lobed or compound leaves where the lobes are usually lanceolate and sometimes toothed. Length ranges from 5 to 15cm, with the undersides clothed in silky hairs. Flowering occurs over summer, with aromatic cream or white axillary racemes up to 12cm long. Each flower is about 8mm long and slightly hairy on the outside. The fruits turn black and leathery when they mature and are up to 25mm long.
Opinion: My plant lives under the pergola on the south side of the house, in my ‘rainforest’ section and is currently close to 3 metres tall and still going. It is in full flower at the moment, providing plenty of attraction to the neighbourhood insects (I haven’t noticed the birds feeding in it) and filling the backyard with its pleasant vanilla caramel smell on warmer days. The specimen is either grown from seed borrowed from the vicinity of Moroka Hut, up in the Snowy Range near Mt Wellington, or bought from the South Gippsland Flower Show a few years back, I can’t remember which, but I do remember seeing a label for it somewhere, which is unlikely to have come from the mountains! Both of the wild forms I have seen, the Grevillea-like shrubs at Moroka Hut and the tall trees at Tali Karng, inspired me to acquire a specimen, particularly the Tali Karng form, which brings back memories of camping underneath the trees, which were buzzing with insects in the summer heat and smothering us in their delicious scent. Pity about the mongrel hills that have to be scaled or descended to get there!

Sources: Wrigley & Fagg- Banksias, Waratahs & Grevilleas, etc.
Baines- Australian Plant Genera.