Banksia : A Case Study

Description

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, all native to Australia except 1 species. These plants are easily recognised due to their unique flower spikes and ‘fruiting’ cones, an iconic Australian species both culturally and ecologically. Southwestern Australia has the highest diversity of Banksias, with a similarly large population along the eastern coast, thriving in an array of environments. The Banksia genus was named by the son of Carl Linnaeus in 1782, after Sir Joseph Banks who collected banksias in Australia in 1770 (Daniels, 2020).

I chose to study the Banksia due to their distinct and interesting flower morphology. I had lots of Banksia species in my childhood home garden and I was always intrigued by their ‘funny look’. Walking around university campuses and public gardens, they are quite common, and this made it easier to gather my own photographs and observations. Banksia flower heads consist of hundreds to sometimes thousands of tiny individual flowers, typically arranged in pairs. These dense floral spikes commonly display colours ranging from yellow to red. Many Banksia species bloom during the autumn and winter months. The fruits, known as follicles, are tough and woody structures that often cluster together in formations resembling cones—though they are not true cones, which are found only in conifer species. These follicles serve to protect the seeds from predators and environmental threats such as fire. In many species, the follicles remain closed until they are exposed to intense heat, such as from bushfires, or until they have dried out completely (Harvey, 2015).

Analysis

banksia analysis

Outcomes and Actions

Learning about the Banksia genus has made me curious about how different species respond to threats like climate change and disease, and how they interact with their environment. I’d like to explore how Indigenous knowledge contributes to our understanding of Banksia and how it can guide conservation.

This process raised new questions, such as how to manage dieback disease, what makes certain species more resilient, and how Banksias might be used more in urban landscaping or ecological restoration.

Personally, this research has made me more aware of the importance of native plants and the role they play in our ecosystems. For the broader community, Banksias support biodiversity, help regenerate landscapes after fire and highlight the need to protect Australia’s unique natural heritage.

Reference list

Cardillo, M. and Pratt, R. (2013). Evolution of a Hotspot genus: Geographic Variation in Speciation and Extinction Rates in Banksia (Proteaceae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 13(1), p.155. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-13-155.

Carpenter, R.J., Macphail, M.K., Jordan, G.J. and Hill, R.S. (2015). Fossil Evidence for open, Proteaceae-dominated Heathlands and Fire in the Late Cretaceous of Australia. American Journal of Botany, 102(12), pp.2092–2107. doi:https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1500343.

Collins, B.G. and Rebelo, T. (1987). Pollination Biology of the Proteaceae in Australia and Southern Africa. Austral Ecology, 12(4), pp.387–421. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.1987.tb00958.x.

Crisp, M.D., Burrows, G.E., Cook, L.G., Thornhill, A.H. and Bowman, D.M.J.S. (2011). Flammable Biomes Dominated by Eucalypts Originated at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene Boundary. Nature Communications, [online] 2(1), pp.1–8. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1191.

Daniels, R. (2020). Demystifying Native Plant Names – an Introduction. [online] Australian Plants Society NSW. Available at: https://resources.austplants.com.au/stories/demystifying-native-plant-names-an-introduction/.

Harvey, R. (2015). The Genus Banksia. [online] Australian Plant Information. Available at: https://www.anbg.gov.au/banksia/.

Lambers, H., Shane, M., Cawthray, G., Sytze de Roock and Roelofs, R. (2001). The Cluster Roots of Australian Proteaceae: a Fascinating nutrient-acquiring Adaptation. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236596675_The_cluster_roots_of_Australian_Proteaceae_A_fascinating_nutrient-acquiring_adaptation.

Lamont, B.B., Enright, N.J. and He, T. (2011). Fitness and Evolution of Resprouters in Relation to Fire. Plant Ecology, 212(12), pp.1945–1957. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9982-3.

Lamont, B.B., He, T., Milne, L.A. and Cowling, R.M. (2024). Out of Africa: Linked continents, Overland Migration and Differential Survival Explain Abundance of Proteaceae in Australia. Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics, 62, pp.125778–125778. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2024.125778.

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