Banksia solandri
Stirling Range Banksia
Stirling Range Banksia
Wikipedia links: Angiosperms > Eudicots > Proteales > Proteaceae > Banksia ...
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Common name: Stirling Range 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
The name honors Daniel Solander, a student of Carl Linnaeus who accompanied Joseph Banks on the first voyage of James Cook, who collected the first specimens of Banksia to be scientifically described
Flowers:
Flowering is in spring and early summer
The inflorescences are fawn in colour
Fruit:
Leaves:
Stem & branches:
Roots:
Habit:
It is a woody shrub to 4 m high with large, broad serrate leaves and thick finely-furred stems
Habitat:
Distribution:
It occurs only within the Stirling Range in southwest Western Australia
Additional notes:
Taxonomy
B. solandri was first collected by William Baxter from the vicinity of King George Sound, and published by Robert Brown in his 1830 Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae
In 1847 it was recollected from Mondurup in the Stirling Ranges by James Drummond
The following year Drummond published the name "Banksia hookeri" for the species:
[A]bout the height of 2,000 feet I found, first making its appearance, a splendid Banksia, with leaves more than nine inches long, and about five wide, irregularly jagged and sinuated like those of an English oak
To this noble shrub I have given the specific name of Hookeri
From the remains of the flowers, they appear to have been scarlet
In 1856, this name was relegated to a synonym of Banksia solandri var. major, but that variety is no longer maintained, and B. hookeri is now considered a synonym of B. solandri
Banksia solandri has always been regarded as most closely related to Banksia grandis in the series Grandes, and more recent molecular studies support this arrangement
Cultivation
Banksia solandri is extremely sensitive to dieback, however it is easily grafted onto Banksia integrifolia.
The foliage makes for an attractive garden shrub. It will grow with a sunny aspect and well drained soil
Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 36 to 71 days to germinate.
Sources of information: