Flowering begins in February and is usually finished by the end of June. The species has an unusually low rate of flowering: even at the peak of its flowering season, it averages less than seven inflorescences per plant flowering at any one time. Individual flowers open sequentially from bottom to top within each inflorescence, the rate varying with the time of day: more flowers open during the day than at night, with a peak rate of around two to three florets per hour during the first few hours of daylight, when honeyeater foraging is also at its peak.