Banksia repens
Creeping Banksia
Creeping Banksia
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Proteales > Proteaceae > Banksia repens
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Common name: Creeping Banksia
Conservation status: . . .
Etymology:
The genus is named after Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820 ), who, in 1770, was the first European to collect specimens of these plants
Its specific name is the Latin participle repens "creeping"
Flowers
Appearing from October to November, the cylindrical inflorescences arise well beyond the leaves and are variable shades of orange, tan and pinkish shades in overall colour and range from 6 to 10 cm high
As the flower spikes age, they fade to a greyish colour, the old flowers persisting
Fruit:
Leaves:
The large leathery upright leaves arise vertically on petioles 5–15 cm high
Stem & branches:
It has horizontal stems covered in a fine velvety fur which spread underground
Roots:
Habit:
Banksia repens is a prostrate shrub It is lignotuberous, and resprouts after fire
They are 18 to 40 cm in length and 18 cm wide
They are intricately lobed with smaller lobes
Habitat:
Distribution:
It occurs in sandy soils from Cranbrook to Israelite Bay, on the Western Australian south coast
From D'Entrecasteaux National Park in the west to Mount Ragged in the east
Additional notes:
Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 29 to 56 days to germinate
Taxonomy
Specimens of B. repens were first collected by Jacques Labillardière from the vicinity of present-day Esperance, Western Australia on 16 December 1792. Labillardière was botanist to an expedition under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, which anchored in Esperance Bay on 9 December
On 14 December, the zoologist Claude Riche went ashore, and failed to return. A search the following day proved unsuccessful
Several senior members of the expedition were convinced that Riche must have perished of thirst or at the hands of the Australian Aborigines, and counselled d'Entrecasteaux to sail without him
However Labillardière convinced d'Entrecasteaux to search for another day, and was rewarded not only with the recovery of Riche, but also with the collection of several highly significant botanical specimens, including the first specimens of Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw), Nuytsia floribunda (West Australian Christmas Tree), Banksia nivea (Honeypot Dryandra) and B. repens
Labillardière published a formal description of B. repens in his 1800 Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse; this was accompanied by an illustration by Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Robert Brown was familiar with Labillardière's work when he arrived in Australia on HMS Investigator under Matthew Flinders in late 1801
His diary suggests that he collected B. repens from King George Sound, which would be interesting considering that it does not occur there today
His entry for 13 December 1801 refers to having observed in fruit a plant the name of which is illegible
The editors of Brown's diary suggest that the word "looks like bankarepen, which might appear to hint at Banksia repens"
On 28 December, Brown records packing plants into boxes, including "the interesting Banksia repens of which I took care to h[av]e several excellent plants"
The editors of Brown's diary also claim to have located in the British Museum (Natural History) specimens of B. repens collected by Brown at King George Sound, but the Robert Brown's Australian Botanical Specimens, 1801–1805 at the BM online database, maintained by the Western Australian Herbarium, lists only specimens collected by Brown further east at Lucky Bay
It is one of six closely related species in section Banksia ser. Prostratae, all endemic to Western Australia, and all with a prostrate habit. George holds it as closely related to B. blechnifolia and B. chamaephyton
The placement of B. repens in George's 1999 arrangement may be summarised as follows:
Banksia
B. subg. Banksia
B. sect. Banksia
B. ser. Salicinae (11 species, 7 subspecies)
B. ser. Grandes (2 species)
B. ser. Banksia (8 species)
B. ser. Crocinae
B. ser. Prostratae (6 species, 3 varieties)
B. goodii
B. gardneri
B. gardneri var. gardneri
B. gardneri var. brevidentata
B. gardneri var. hiemalis
B. chamaephyton
B. repens
B. blechnifolia
B. petiolaris
B. ser. Cyrtostylis (13 species)
B. ser. Tetragonae (3 species)
B. ser. Bauerinae (1 species)
B. ser. Quercinae (2 species)
B. sect. Coccinea (1 species)
B. sect. Oncostylis (4 series, 22 species, 4 subspecies, 11 varieties)
B. subg. Isostylis (3 species)
Sources of information: