Banksia ashbyi
Ashby's Banksia
Ashby's Banksia
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Common name: Ashby's Banksia
Conservation status: Least concern
This banksia is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife
Etymology:
The genus is named after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820 ), who, in 1770, was the first European to collect specimens of these plants
The specific epithet honours Edwin Ashby, one of the collectors of the type specimens
Flowers:
The flower spikes are bright orange, 60–150 mm (2.4–5.9 in) long and 60–80 mm (2.4–3.1 in) in diameter, each perianth 26–34 mm long
Flowering occurs from February to May or July to December
Fruit:
The fruits are numerous smooth
Elliptical to round follicles 8–15 mm long, 3–8 mm high and 5–11 mm wide
They have a covering of short, soft hairs
Leaves:
The leaves are broadly linear, 100–300 mm long and 20–40 mm wide
Deeply serrated, the serrations triangular with sharply pointed tips
Stem & branches:
It has smooth, grey bark and young stems that are hairy at first but become glabrous as they age
Roots:
Habit:
A shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of 8 m and sometimes forms a lignotuber
Banksia ashbyi subsp. ashbyi grows as a tree up to 7 m in height, lacks a lignotuber and is fire-sensitive
Banksia ashbyi subsp. boreoscaia grows as a sprawling shrub no more than 2 m high and is lignotuberous
Habitat:
Heath and spinifex country
Distribution:
Endemic to Western Australia
Along the coast of Western Australia between Geraldton and Exmouth
Subspecies ashbyi occurs between Shark Bay and Coorow as well as in the Kennedy Range
Subspecies boreoscaia is found further north, between North West Cape and Quobba
Additional notes:
Taxonomy and naming
Banksia ashbyi was first formally described in 1934 by Edmund Gilbert Baker in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign
In 2008, Alex George described two subspecies in the journal Nuytsia and the names have been accepted by the Australian Plant Census:
Banksia ashbyi subsp. ashbyi
Banksia ashbyi subsp. boreoscaia
Ecology
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
Use in horticulture
Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 16 to 61 days to germinate
Sources of information: