Fire Bush

Fire Bush (Embothrium) - E. coccineum is a very beautiful South American evergreen shrub of the Protea family, hardy in warm parts of Britain, even without the protection of a wall. At Coombe Royal, in South Devon, it grows quite 20 feet high, and is a spectacle of wondrous beauty about the end of April or the beginning of May, when every twig carries a cluster of fiery flowers. Even on the favoured Devonshire coast a sharp late frost will sometimes injure the flowers. It thrives near the coast in Southern Ireland and in Wicklow at Mr Actons, but soon perishes in less favoured places.