Banksia repens

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Creeping Banksia
Banksia repens.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Banksia
Subgenus: Banksia subg. Banksia
Section: Banksia sect. Banksia
Series: Banksia ser. Prostratae
Species:
B. repens
Binomial name
Banksia repens

Banksia repens, the creeping banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia . It occurs on the south coast of Western Australia from D'Entrecasteaux National Park in the west to Mount Ragged in the east.

Contents

Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 29 to 56 days to germinate. [1]

Description

Banksia repens is a prostrate shrub with horizontal stems covered in a fine velvety fur which spread underground. The large leathery upright leaves arise vertically on petioles 5–15 cm (2–6 in) high. They are 18 to 40 cm (7–16 in) in length and 18 cm (7 in) wide. They are intricately lobed with smaller lobes. 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 (2.4–4 in) high. As the flower spikes age, they fade to a greyish colour, the old flowers persisting. [2]

It is lignotuberous, and resprouts after fire.

Distribution and habitat

It occurs in sandy soils from Cranbrook to Israelite Bay, on the Western Australian south coast. [2]

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. [3]

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. [4]

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 wch I took care to h[av]e several excellnt 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, [5] 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. [6]

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. [2]

The placement of B. repens in George's 1999 arrangement may be summarised as follows: Its specific name is the Latin participle repens "creeping", as its common name of creeping banksia. [2]

An engraving depicting B. repens, from a drawing by Pierre-Joseph Redoute, published with the first formal description of the species in Jacques Labillardiere's 1800 Relation du Voyage a la Recherche de la Perouse. Banksia repens by Chez Dabo.jpg
An engraving depicting B. repens, from a drawing by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, published with the first formal description of the species in Jacques Labillardière's 1800 Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse .
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)


Related Research Articles

<i>Banksia <span style="font-style:normal;">subg.</span> Banksia</i> Subgenus in the family Proteaceae

Banksia subg. Banksia is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of Banksia. As an autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of Banksia, B. serrata. Within this constraint, however, there have been various circumscriptions.

<i>Banksia <span style="font-style:normal;">ser.</span> Dryandra</i> Series of Banksia species in the plant family Proteaceae

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<i>Banksia petiolaris</i> Flowering plant of the family Proteaceae native to Western Australia

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<i>Banksia blechnifolia</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from Western Australia

Banksia blechnifolia is a species of flowering plant in the genus Banksia found in Western Australia. It was first described by Victorian state botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1864, and no subspecies are recognised. It gained its specific name as its leaves are reminiscent of a fern (Blechnum). B. blechnifolia is one of several closely related species that grow as prostrate shrubs, with horizontal stems and leathery, upright leaves. The red-brown flower spikes, known as inflorescences, are up to 20 centimetres (8 in) high and appear from September to November in the Australian spring. As the spikes age, each turns grey and develops as many as 25 woody seed pods, known as follicles.

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

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This is a timeline of developments in knowledge and understanding of the Australian plant genus Banksia:

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.

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<i>Banksia <span style="font-style:normal;">subser.</span> Leptophyllae</i> Subseries in the family Proteaceae

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<i>Adenanthos obovatus</i> A shrub of the plant family Proteaceae endemic to Southwest Australia

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References

Foliage Banksia repens foliage.jpg
Foliage
  1. Sweedman, Luke; Merritt, David (2006). Australian seeds: a guide to their collection, identification and biology. CSIRO Publishing. p. 203. ISBN   0-643-09298-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 George, Alex (1999). "Banksia". In Wilson, Annette (ed.). Flora of Australia. Vol. 17B. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 175–251. ISBN   0-643-06454-0.
  3. Duyker, Edward (2003). Citizen Labillardière: A naturalist's life in revolution and exploration. Carlton: Miegunyah Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN   0-522-85160-6.
  4. Collins, Kevin; Collins, Kathy; George, Alex (2008). Banksias. Melbourne: Bloomings Books. p. 60. ISBN   978-1-876473-68-6.
  5. Brown, Robert (2001). Orchard, Tony; Wilson, Annette (eds.). Nature's Investigator: The Diary of Robert Brown in Australia, 1801–1805. Vallance, T. G., Moore, D. T. and Groves E. W. (compilers). Canberra: Australian Biographical Resources Study. pp. 96, 103–104, 112. ISBN   0-642-56817-0.
  6. "Banksia repens [search]". Robert Brown's Australian Botanical Specimens, 1801–1805 at the BM. Retrieved 19 December 2009.

Further reading