Banksia laricina

Location & distribution maps

Plant  information

Common name:                Rose Banksia 

Conservation status:  Not threatened

• It 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 (laricina) is derived from Latin, meaning larch-like (a larch is a deciduous tree related to the pines)

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are arranged in a head 15–25 mm long with small involucral bracts at the base

• The flowers are pale yellow with a yellow style, the perianth 17–19 mm long and the pistil hooked and 27–30 mm long

• Flowering occurs from April to July 

Fruit:                         

• The follicles are prominent, 22–30 mm long, 19–27 mm high and 14–18 mm wide, the old flowers falling from the head

Leaves:         

• The leaves are narrow linear and crowded with a sharp point on the tip

• They are 5–15 mm long and less than 1 mm wide

• The petiole is 1–1.5 mm long 

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• A shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.7 m but that does not form a lignotuber

Habitat:   

• It grows in low woodland

Distribution:                  

• Restricted to a small area near the Moore River and Regans Ford 

Additional notes:     

• Banksia laricina, commonly known as the Rose banksia,[2] is a species of shrub that is endemic to southwestern Western Australia. It has crowded, linear leaves with a short point on the tip, golden brown flowers with a bright yellow style and prominent egg-shaped follicles.

• Taxonomy

  • See also: George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia

  • See also: Thiele and Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia

  • Banksia laricina was first formally described in 1964 by West Australian botanist Charles Gardner in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia from specimens he collected in July 1958

  • In 1981, George placed this species in the series Abietinae. Cladistic analysis in a 1996 paper by Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges suggested that the closest relatives of B. laricina appeared to be B. incana and B. tricuspis

  • In their taxonomic arrangement, Thiele and Ladiges placed B. laricina in series Abietinae, subseries Longistyles.

  • Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement was not accepted by George, and was largely discarded by him in his 1999 arrangement in Flora of Australia

• Use in horticulture

  • Rarely cultivated, Banksia laricina will grow on sandy well drained soils in a sunny position

  • It may require extra water during summer dry periods and take some time (up to 18 months) to establish well

  • Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 19 to 51 days to germinate

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_laricina (2023)