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Identifying Beechwoods - Faurea
Faurea is very easy to recognize amongst the Proteaceae. The flowers are in catkin-like spikes. It is also readily identified as a member of the Proteaceae by its spoon-shaped tepals (there are no petals, the sepals appear to be the petals), all fused into a flat trough with tips free. The anthers are attached by a very short stalk to the free perianth tips. Easily distinguished from the Silky Oak Grevillea robusta (an ornamental tree from Australia) in having florets single, not in pairs
There are only five of the ca 20 species of Faurea in southern Africa. Details of the species are provided below.
| Feature | forficuliflora | galpinii | macnaughtonii | saligna | speciosa |
| Inflorescence: | |||||
| orientation | pendulous | upright | pendulous | pendulous | pendulous |
| colour | red | cream | cream / pink | cream | cream / pink |
| lenght (mm) | 125 - 250 | 80 -180 | 140 -160 | 100 -150 | 200 - 300 |
| width (mm) | ? | 17 - 20 | 30 | 20 -30 | 30 - 40 (50) |
| Florets: | |||||
| stalk | no | yes | no | no | no |
| covering | hairless | velvety | hairless | hairless | hairless |
| Leaf: | |||||
| width (mm) | 13 - 20 | 25 | 25 - 30 | 13 -25 | 25 - 75 |
| length (mm) | 65 - 125 | 100 | 120 | 65 - 150 | 70 - 170 |
| stalk (mm) | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 | short - thick |
| colour: above | glossy grn | glossy grn | grass grn | grass grn > red | glossy grn > red |
| below | glossy grn | glossy grn | grass grn | grass grn > red | grey below |
| hairs | hairless | hairless | hairless | hairless | velvety below |
| Flowering season: | Mar - Apr | Oct - Jan | Dec - Feb | Aug - Feb | Mar - Sep |
| Bark: | grey | grey | grey | dark grey/black | dark grey |
Thus unique features are:
Faurea forficuliflora has red flowers;
Faurea galpinii has upright inflorescences and hairy florets; and,
Faurea speciosa has leaves which are different in colour on the top and bottom surfaces.
That leaves F macnaughtonii and F saligna, with the former having wider leaves with a shorter stalk, and the latter a black bark.
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