Banksia elegans
Elegant banksia | |
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Cultivated specimen, Perth
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Proteales |
Family: | Proteaceae |
Genus: | Banksia |
Species: | B. elegans
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Binomial name | |
Banksia elegans | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Sirmuellera elegans ( |
Banksia elegans, commonly known as the elegant banksia,[2] is a species of woody shrub that is endemic to a relatively small area of Western Australia. Reaching 4 m (13 ft) high, it is a suckering shrub that rarely reproduces by seed. The round to oval yellow flower spikes appear in spring and summer. Swiss botanist Carl Meissner described Banksia elegans in 1856. It is most closely related to the three species in the subgenus Isostylis.
Description
Banksia elegans grows as a many-stemmed spreading shrub to 4 m (13 ft) high. It commonly sends up suckers from either the roots or trunk. The trunk is up to 15 cm (5.9 in) in diameter and covered with grey tessellated bark. The new stems are covered with fine hair and become smooth with maturity. New growth mainly occurs in summer. The long thin pale blue-green leaves are 200–460 mm (7.9–18.1 in) long and 12–18 mm (0.47–0.71 in) wide. Their margins are prominently serrated in a saw-tooth pattern with triangular teeth and v-shaped sinuses. The yellow flower spikes, or inflorescences, are oval or spherical and reach 60–70 mm (2.4–2.8 in) in diameter.[2][3][4][5]
A population with particularly large inflorescences existed near Walkaway at the species' northern limit, but was on land cleared for agriculture.[2] Each flower spike is composed of around 400 individual flowers. Over 90% of plants and 99% of flowerheads do not develop follicles and hence set no seed.[6]
Taxonomy
Swiss botanist
In 1891,
George was uncertain of its relationships, though noted that the follicles and seed are not unlike those of B. ilicifolia and B. cuneata, and that it clearly had a shortening of its woody axis in the flower spike.[3]
In 2002, a molecular study by Austin Mast showed B. elegans was basal to a group formed by the three members of the subgenus Isostylis, and that its next closest relative was B. attenuata[14]
In 2005, Mast, Eric Jones and Shawn Havery published the results of their cladistic analyses of
Distribution and habitat
Banksia elegans only occurs only over a 65 km2 (25 sq mi) area north and west of Eneabba, where it grows in small scattered populations consisting of fewer than 100 plants each. The populations are found between the vicinities of Mt Peron near Jurien Bay and Walkaway, on flat sandplains of less than 50 m (160 ft) in elevation. Stands are often found near winter-wet depressions. The surrounding vegetation is low shrubland or woodland. Associated species include Banksia attenuata, B. prionotes and B. menziesii.[2]
Ecology
Banksia elegans sets an extremely low amount of seed, and appears to reproduce predominantly by suckering, despite prolific flowering and low rates of flower and follicle predation. Developing seeds are also often aborted. A population studied in one field study produced an average of only two seeds per plant in sixteen years.[6] Populations begin flowering three years after bushfire, and regenerate after fire from large underground lignotubers as well as sending up suckers. One field study found no seedlings at all post-bushfire, suggesting the shift to vegetative propagation maybe more marked than thought previously.[17]
An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on this species found that its range is unlikely to contract and may actually grow, depending on how effectively it migrates into newly habitable areas.[18]
Conservation status
This banksia is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[5] meaning that is rare or near threatened.[19]
Use in horticulture
Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 19 to 48 days to
References
- ^ a b "Banksia elegans". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ ISBN 0-644-07124-9. pp. 94-95.
- ^ a b c George, Alex S. (1981). "The Genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Nuytsia. 3 (3): 364–366. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ George, Alex S. (1999). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 17B. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. p. 221. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ JSTOR 2260634.
- ^ "Banksia elegans". APNI. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Meissner, Carl (1855). "New Australian Proteaceae". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 7: 119.
- ^ Meissner, Carl (1856). "Proteaceae". In de Candolle, A. P. (ed.). Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. Vol. 14. Paris, France: Sumptibus Sociorum Treuttel et Wurtz.
- ^ Bentham, George (1870). . Flora Australiensis: Volume 5: Myoporineae to Proteaceae. London, United Kingdom: L. Reeve & Co. pp. 541–62 – via Wikisource.
- ^ Kuntze, Otto (1891). Revisio generum plantarum. Vol. 2. Leipzig: Arthur Felix. pp. 581–582.
- JSTOR 4107078.
- JSTOR 4111642.
- PMID 21665734.
- doi:10.1071/SB04015.
- doi:10.1071/SB06016.
- S2CID 84746985.
- .
- ^ "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ISBN 0-643-09298-6.