X-Nico

10 unusual facts about banksia


Banksia

Perhaps the best known cultural reference to Banksia is the "big bad Banksia men" of May Gibbs' children's book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

Banksia, New South Wales

More shops and commercial developments are located on the Princes Highway.

Bill Cane

He was the first to note that a form of Banksia found at higher altitudes may be a new species which was subsequently named in his honour - Banksia canei, based on plant material that he had collected.

Cyrioides imperialis

Several species of the genus Banksia, including B. serrata, B. integrifolia and B. marginata are host plants for the larval and adult stages.

Fire regime

An example is found in the many Banksia species that are both fire-sensitive and serotinous; these species are killed by fire, but fire also triggers the release of seed, ensuring population recovery.

Mesostoinae

A unique feature of this subfamily is that all the known species are primary gall formers on Banksia.

Rockdale, New South Wales

Perhaps the most significant property developer during the 1880s was Frederick Jamison Gibbes (1839–1888), a Member of Parliament, who is commemorated by Gibbes Street in Banksia.

Tasmanian pygmy possum

Tasmanian pygmy possums are omnivorous, feeding on insects, spiders, small lizards, nectar, and pollen, the latter two primarily coming from Banksia and eucalypts.

Watheroo National Park

The park is mostly composed of sand plain country which supports populations of heath, Mallee and Banksia and a large number of wildflowers.

Xanthorrhoea macronema

The common name is the Bottlebrush Grass Tree This plant features yellow flowers resembling Banksias or Bottlebrushes, around 10 cm long.


Arotrophora

Arotrophora arcuatalis (Walker, 1865) (Banksia Boring Moth)

Arotrophora arcuatalis

Arotrophora arcuatalis, commonly known as Banksia Boring Moth or rarely Banksia Moth, is a species of Australian tortrid moth best known as a pest of Banksia.

Arunta perulata

The preferred habitat is swampy forest and mangroves, cicadas perching on trees such as sheoak (Casuarina equisetifolia), swamp oak (C. glauca), coast banksia (Banksia integrifolia) and coast wattle (Acacia sophorae).

B. gardneri

Banksia gardneri, the prostrate banksia, a shrub species found along the south coast of Western Australia

B. pulchella

Banksia pulchella, the teasel banksia, a shrub species found in Western Australia

Banksia 'Giant Candles'

It is a hybrid between the Gosford form of B. ericifolia (Heath-leaved Banksia) and a form of B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii.

Banksia 'Roller Coaster'

Banksia 'Roller Coaster', sometimes referred to as Banksia 'Austraflora Roller Coaster', is a registered Banksia cultivar bred from Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia.

Banksia 'Stumpy Gold'

Banksia 'Stumpy Gold' is a dwarf cultivar of Banksia spinulosa var. collina that was selected by Richard Anderson of Merricks Nursery in Victoria from material collected at Catherine Hill Bay on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Banksia 'Waite Crimson'

A selected form of B. coccinea (Albany or Scarlet Banksia), it flowers late in the season.

Banksia 'Waite Flame'

A selected form of B. coccinea (Albany or Scarlet Banksia), it flowers early in the season and has a more orange-hued bloom than its parent species.

Banksia 'Waite Orange'

A hybrid between B. hookeriana (Hooker's Banksia) and B. prionotes (Acorn Banksia), it is generally intermediate in morphology between those two species.

Banksia 'Yellow Wing'

It is a hybrid between Banksia 'Giant Candles' and Banksia spinulosa var. collina from Carnarvon Gorge in Queensland.

Banksia acanthopoda

Banksia acanthopoda is little known in cultivation, although it has been successfully grown and propagated at The Banksia Farm in Mount Barker, Western Australia, and at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne, Melbourne.

Banksia acanthopoda grows in tall closed kwongan heath in lateritic soils, sometimes with a sparse overstorey of wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo) or Drummond's gum (E. drummondii).

Banksia aemula

Although Banksia attenuata was the common banksia in Australian children's author May Gibbs' own childhood in Western Australia, the old flower spikes of Banksia aemula with their large follicles are thought to have been the inspiration for the villains of her Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books, the "Big Bad Banksia Men".

Banksia archaeocarpa

A fossil banksia cone comparable to B. archaeocarpa, named Banksia longicarpa has also been described from Miocene age specimens collected near Marree in northern South Australia, also well outside the current distribution of Banksia.

Banksia lindleyana

A major disruption to Banksia nomenclature occurred in 1891, when Otto Kuntze challenged Banksia L.f. on the grounds that Banksia J.R.Forst & G.Forst (now Pimelea) had been published before it.

Banksia rufa

As the name Banksia ferruginea had already been published in reference to the plant now known as Pimelea ferruginea, Mast and Thiele had to choose a new specific epithet; their choice, "rufa", is from the Latin rufus ("reddish"), in references to the red-brown colour of new growth and the involucral bracts.

Banksia ser. Ochraceae

B. benthamiana (Bentham's Banksia) was designated the type species.

Banksia speciosa

In 1891, German botanist Otto Kuntze challenged the generic name Banksia L.f., on the grounds that the name Banksia had previously been published in 1775 as Banksia J.R.Forst & G.Forst, referring to the genus now known as Pimelea.

Banksia victoriae

He named it in honour of Queen Victoria; thus the full name for the species is Banksia victoriae Meisn.

Chereninup Creek Reserve

The flora is very rich with a high diversity of Eucalyptus, Dryandra and Banksia species.

Dandenong High School

Stage 1 of the building program was completed in early 2009; including the construction of Banksia, Darwinia and Callistemon Houses, and also the extension and refurbishment of the current Library Resource Centre.

Dichelachne crinita

Within the Sydney region, it is found in grassland to open forest communities, associated with woodland trees such as smooth-barked apple (Angophora costata), Sydney peppermint (Eucalyptus piperita), silvertop ash (E. sieberi) and red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera), in scrub with coastal banksia (Banksia integrifolia) and broad-leaved apple (Angophora subvelutina).

Fred Humphreys

Author Alex George said Humphreys conceived the idea of a series of popular books on plants such as Banksias, Dryandras, and Verticordias, and endeavoured to photograph every species of Banksia.

Millbridge, Western Australia

The suburb contains a mix of jarrah, marri, sheoak and banksia woodland as well as wetland areas with flooded gums and paperbarks, which provide habitat to a wide range of waterbirds and mammals.

New Holland Honeyeater

Consequently, they are key pollinators of many flowering plant species, many of which are endemic to Australia such as Banksia, Hakea, Xanthorrhoea (Yacka), and Acacia.

Philippa Nikulinsky

She is the author of a work on Banksia menziesii (Firewood Banksia), provided illustrations and text to Life on the Rocks (with Stephen Hopper), and a large format art book called Soul of the Desert.

Swan Coastal Plain

The Swan coastal plain is a particularly important centre for certain types of plant including banksia but also Caladenia orchids and Leucopogon shrubs, indeed some genera, such as the Dryandra series of banksia and the Synaphea flowers are found nowhere else in the world.

Torndirrup National Park

A large array of floral species can be found within the park including the Woolly-bush, peppermint tree, Swamp Yate, various Banksias and Karri forest.

Worimi people

Vegetables eaten included fern roots, stalks of the Gymea lily, and the bloom of the banksia.