There are many species of these small trees or shrubs, some of them very ornamental, but G. robusta is the easiest to grow and most useful to the florist. It is often called the Australian silk oak. We use it in vases and veranda boxes, and plants a foot to two feet high make very useful plants for winter decoration. It withstands a good deal of rough treatment and does very well in winter in a cool greenhouse, subject to no insects and thriving in any soil.

It is always raised from seed, which should be sown in flats in March or April, and shifted along as required. Keep them indoors on the benches if you can afford the room, give them little or no shade and they will make useful plants the following spring. It is best to sow seeds every spring, as the plants when over three feet high lose their value as decorative plants, or rather there are other plants occupying no more room that are better for the purpose. Avoid getting them into large pots; a 5-inch pot will do very well for a plant two to three feet high, and that is a great advantage when you are using decorative plants.