Banksia conferta

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Banksia conferta
Banksia conferta.jpg
In the Australian National Botanic Gardens
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Banksia
Species:
B. conferta
Binomial name
Banksia conferta
Synonyms [1]
  • Banksia confertaA.S.George subsp. conferta
  • Banksia confertaA.S.George var. conferta

Banksia conferta, commonly known as the glasshouse banksia, [2] is a species of shrub that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves arranged in whorls, and crowded yellow flowers in a cylindrical spike later forming a relatively large number of follicles.

Contents

Description

Banksia conferta is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 4 m (13 ft) but does not form a lignotuber. It has rough, grey, tessellated bark on the trunk and orange, red or brown stems that are hairy at first. The leaves are arranged in whorls and are elliptic to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, 35–120 mm (1.4–4.7 in) long and 7–40 mm (0.28–1.57 in) wide with the edges curved downwards and sometimes serrated. The flowers are crowded in a cylindrical spike 70–190 mm (2.8–7.5 in) long with involucral bracts 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long at the base. The flowers are yellowish green to pinkish brown in the bud stage, turning golden yellow when open. The perianth is 20–26 mm (0.79–1.02 in) long and the pistil is 22–26 mm (0.87–1.02 in) long and slightly curved. Flowering occurs from late April to July and the fruit is a narrow elliptical follicle 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) long, 2–6 mm (0.079–0.236 in) high and 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide. More than 100 follicles often form in each spike, surrounded by the remains of the flowers. The follicles remain until the plant is burned, unlike those of the similar B. integrifolia which also has less crowded flowers. [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

Banksia conferta was first collected by Lawrie Johnson from the McPherson Range in Lamington National Park in May 1951, but not formally described until 1981. Alex George named it in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected from Mount Tibrogargan in the Glass House Mountains National Park in 1975. [5] [6] The specific epithet (conferta) is a Latin word meaning "crowded". [7] He felt it had evolved from Banksia integrifolia but was distinct enough to warrant species status. [5]

In the same journal, George described variety conferta [8] and var. penicillata, [9] and in 1996 he described subspecies conferta [10] and subsp. penicillata. [11] [12] He described subsp. conferta as being found in southern Queensland on the Lamington Plateau and the Glass House Mountains and subsp. penicillata from Bowral to north of Lithgow in New South Wales.

In 1996, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges raised subspecies penicillata to species status as B. penicillata in Australian Systematic Botany , based on the differences in habit, bark, leaf shape, indumentum and flower colour, and the fact that the two taxa were so far from each other. According to their morphological cladistic analysis, B. penicillata was sister taxon to B. paludosa. [13] Hence var. conferta and subsp. conferta became synonyms of B. conferta. [14]

Distribution and habitat

This banksia is known from the Lamington Plateau and the Glass House Mountains in southern Queensland where it grows on steep rocky slopes in scrub and open shrubland and in the Coorabakh National Park in New South Wales. Subspecies conferta is restricted to the Coorabakh National Park and is listed as "critically endangered" under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 . [5] [15] [16]

Botanist Stephen Bell investigated the Coorabakh population and noted low rates of follicle formation, postulating that a lack of mammalian pollinators may be impacting on the pollination of the species there. [17]

Related Research Articles

Taxonomy of <i>Banksia</i> Classification of the plant genus Banksia

As with other flowering plants, the taxonomy of Banksia has traditionally been based on anatomical and morphological properties of the Banksia flower, fruiting structure and seed, along with secondary characteristics such as leaf structure and growth habit. Increasingly, molecular evidence from DNA is providing important new insights into relationships within the genus and between this and other genera in the Proteaceae.

<i>Banksia meisneri</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to the south-west of Western Australia

Banksia meisneri, commonly known as Meisner's banksia, is a shrub that is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It has crowded, more or less linear leaves and in winter and spring, spikes of golden brown flowers followed by furry fruit which usually only open after fire.

<i>Banksia paludosa</i> Shrub in the family Proteaceae native to New South Wales, Australia

Banksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is native to New South Wales, Australia, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolated population further south around Eden. There are two recognised subspecies, the nominate of which is a spreading shrub to 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in height, and subsp. astrolux is a taller shrub to 5 m (16 ft) high found only in Nattai National Park.

<i>Banksia pilostylis</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae native to Western Australia

Banksia pilostylis is a species of shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has hard, fissured bark, narrow wedge-shaped, serrated leaves, pale yellow flowers in cylindrical spikes and elliptical follicles that open when heated in a bushfire.

<i>Banksia micrantha</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to the south-west of Western Australia

Banksia micrantha is a species of small shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading bush with sharply-pointed linear leaves, pale yellow flower spikes and up to twenty-five follicles surrounded by the remains of the flowers. It was first formally described by Alex George in 1981.

<i>Banksia lullfitzii</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to the south-west of Western Australia

Banksia lullfitzii is a species of shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has linear leaves with widely-spaced, sharply-pointed teeth on the sides, golden-orange to orange-brown flowers, and later, up to thirty follicles in each head.

<i>Banksia <span style="font-style:normal;">ser.</span> Salicinae</i> Taxonomic series in the family Proteaceae

Banksia ser. Salicinae is a valid botanic name for a series of Banksia. First published by Carl Meissner in 1856, the name has had three circumscriptions.

<i>Banksia integrifolia <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> integrifolia</i> Subspecies of plant in the family Proteaceae from eastern Australia

Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia is a subspecies of Banksia integrifolia.

The genus <i>Banksia</i> L.f. (Proteaceae) 1981 taxonomic monograph by Alex George

"The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)" is a 1981 monograph by Alex George on the taxonomy of the plant genus Banksia. Published by the Western Australian Herbarium as Nuytsia3(3), it presented George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, the first major taxonomic revision of the genus since George Bentham published his arrangement in Flora Australiensis in 1870.

<i>Banksia penicillata</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to New South Wales, Australia

Banksia penicillata is a species of shrub that is endemic to a restricted area of New South Wales. It has smooth bark, serrated, elliptic to egg-shaped leaves, green to bluish flower buds, later yellow flowers in a cylindrical spike, and later still, up to one hundred narrow elliptical follicles in each spike, surrounded by the remains of the flowers.

<i>Banksia densa</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia densa is a species of column-like shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has deeply serrated to pinnatifid leaves, creamy yellow flowers in heads of up to seventy-five, and hairy follicles.

<i>Banksia rufa</i> Species of prostrate shrub

Banksia rufa is a species of prostrate shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has broadly linear, pinnatifid or pinnatipartite leaves with between five and twenty lobes on each side, yellow, orange or brownish flowers in heads of forty or more, and glabrous, egg-shaped follicles.

Banksia ionthocarpa is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has short, hairy, prostrate stems, pinnatifid leaves, pinkish purple to orange flower in heads of between forty and sixty at the base of leaves, and egg-shaped follicles with a distinctive tuft of hairs on the end.

<i>Banksia kippistiana</i> Shrub endemic to Western Australia

Banksia kippistiana is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has linear, pinnatifid leaves with ten to twenty lobes on each side, heads of up to eighty yellow and cream-coloured flowers, and elliptical follicles.

<i>Banksia dallanneyi</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia dallanneyi, commonly known as couch honeypot, is a species of prostrate shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It only has a short above-ground stem, pinnatipartite or pinnatisect leaves, between thirty and seventy variously coloured flowers and glabrous, egg-shaped fruit.

Banksia plumosa is a species of shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has hairy stems, broadly linear pinnatifid to pinnatipartite leaves with triangular lobes, creamy-yellow flowers in heads of up to eighty, and egg-shaped follicles.

<i>Banksia subpinnatifida</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Banksia subpinnatifida is a species of bushy shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has more or less linear, pinnatipartite leaves with sharply-pointed teeth on the sides, golden yellow flowers in heads of about sixty, and glabrous, elliptical follicles.

Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, published in 1996, was a novel taxonomic arrangement that was intended to align the taxonomy of Banksia more closely with the phylogeny that they had inferred from their cladistic analysis of the genus. It replaced Alex George's 1981 arrangement, but most aspects were not accepted by George, and it was soon replaced by a 1999 revision of George's arrangement. However some herbaria have continued to follow Thiele and Ladiges on some points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia</span> 1981 and 1996 arrangements of the Australian endemic plant genus Banksia

Alex George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was the first modern-day arrangement for that genus. First published in 1981 in the classic monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae), it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years. It was overturned in 1996 by Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges, but restored by George in 1999. A recent publication by Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele suggests that it will soon be overturned again.

<i>Banksia neoanglica</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from eastern Australia

Banksia neoanglica, commonly known as New England banksia is a shrub or small tree with leaves that are greenish on the upper surface, whitish with soft hairs on the lower side and spikes of flowers with styles that turn black as they open. It is similar to Banksia spinulosa and was formerly known as Banksia spinulosa var. neoanglica, but differs in that its leaves are wider and have margins that are not tightly turned under. It is found mainly along the eastern edge of the Great Dividing Range.

References

  1. 1 2 "Banksia conferta". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "An unusual discovery of the endangered Glasshouse Banksia". NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ↑ George, Alex S. (1999). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 17B. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. p. 191. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. ↑ George, Alex S. (1987). The Banksia Book (Second Edition). Kenthurst, New South Wales: Kangaroo Press (in association with the Society for Growing Australian Plants). ISBN   0-86417-006-8.
  5. 1 2 3 4 George, Alex S. (1981). "The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Nuytsia. 3 (3): 284–289. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  6. ↑ "Banksia conferta". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 168. ISBN   9780958034180.
  8. ↑ "Banksia conferta var. conferta". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Banksia conferta var. penicillata". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Banksia conferta subsp. conferta". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Banksia conferta subsp. penicillata". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. ↑ George, Alex S. (1996). "Notes on Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Nuytsia. 11 (1): 22. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Thiele, Kevin; Ladiges, Pauline Y. (1996). "A Cladistic Analysis of Banksia (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany . 9 (5): 661–733 [714]. doi:10.1071/SB9960661.
  14. ↑ "Banksia penicillata". APNI. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Banksia conferta A.S.George subsp. conferta - critically endangered species listing". NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "Banksia conferta subsp. conferta - profile". New South Wales Government Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  17. ↑ Bell, stephen (2017). "New insights into the ecology of the critically endangered Banksia conferta (Proteaceae) from the mid-north coast of NSW" (PDF). Australasian Plant Conservation. 26 (1): 15–19.
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