Embedded Files
The Firewood Banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Banksia. It gets its name from its useful slow burn. For this reason, it was widely used by the early colonialists in Western Australia for firewood.
Description
Description
The Firewood Banksia grows either as a gnarled tree to 10 m or a lower spreading 1–3 metres shrub. The trunk is greyish in colour, sometimes with shades of brown or pink. The oblong-shaped leaves are grey-green, growing up to 8–25 cm long and up to 4 cm wide. The leaves are serated with small, triangular teeth. The Firewood Banskia produces cylindrical flower spikes that grow up to 4-12cm high and 7-8 cm wide. They are made up of a large number of individual flowers, with one study south of Perth recording an average of 1043 per flower spike. The Firewood Banksia has more flower colour variants than any other Banksia species, with flower spikes occurring in pink, brown, bronze, yellow, white and green. Flowering occurs in autumn and winter, peaking from May to July. Old flowers fall off the spikes quickly, leaving up to 25 follicles on the cone. These cones are oval in shape and dark brown and greyish in colour. The plant relies on fire to reproduce as the follicles only open after being burnt, each one producing one or two seeds.
Habitat
Habitat
The Firewood Banksia is only found in the southwest of Australia. It grows in deep sandy soils from Waroona in the south to Kalbarri in the north. It can be found growing in isolated patches in the east of Western Australia, in the Jarrah forest and Avon Wheatbelt.
Significance in Noongar Culture
Significance in Noongar Culture
The flower spikes of the Firewood Banksia were traditionally soaked in water to make a sweet refreshing drink. This drink was consumed at special festivals and also used to treat coughs and sore throats. The cones of the Firewood Banksia were used to carry fire from camp to camp.
Page updated
Report abuse