'The Czar' grows to a height of 2 metres (6.6 ft) and has large light crimson, semi-double flowers up to 13–15 centimetres (5–6 in) across with prominent yellow stamens.

[2] The plant was thought to have originated from a seedling selected by landscape gardener Neil Breslin of Camberwell, Victoria.

Following Breslin's death in 1912, Mr. R. W. Hodgins of Hodgins Nurseries in Essendon noticed the plant in the garden and was so impressed by the beauty of the flowers that he purchased all the stock plants from his daughter, aside from the original shrub which was thought to be too large to be moved.

[3][4] This original plant was eventually relocated to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne in 1952.

It was only about twenty years later, when these plants had grown into large bushes, that people began to take notice and appreciate this new variety.