Robert Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in his book of 1810, Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen , and expanded in the supplement to that publication, Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae , in 1830. It was the first survey of Banksia species to be published, and included descriptions of a number of previously undescribed species. [1] [2]
Banksia is a genus of around 175 species in the plant family Proteaceae. An iconic Australian wildflower and popular garden plant, they are recognised by their flower spikes or domes, and their fruiting "cones". They grow in forms varying from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 35 metres tall, and occur in all but the most arid areas of Australia. As heavy producers of nectar, they are important sources of food for nectariferous animals such as honeyeaters and honey possum, and they are of economic importance to the nursery and cut flower industries. However they are seriously threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning, and disease, and a number of species are rare and endangered.
Specimens of Banksia were first collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, naturalists on HM Bark Endeavour during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook's voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 1770. By the time of Brown's arrangement of 1810, less than 20 Banksia species had been published. However, Brown had himself collected specimens of 26 unpublished species in 1801 and 1802. Thirteen of these were thought by Brown to belong to a new genus, which he named Dryandra (now B. ser. Dryandra). The remaining species were assigned to Banksia; thus Brown was able to publish an arrangement of 31 species.
Brown divided Banksia into two unranked groups. He placed B. ilicifolia alone in Isostylis because of its unusual dome-shaped inflorescences. All other species were placed in Banksia verae , the "true banksias", because they have the elongate flower spike then considered characteristic of Banksia. The arrangement was as follows: [1]
Brown released a second edition of his Prodromus in 1821, but no new species of Banksia had been collected since that time, so the arrangement was the same as in the first edition. Between 1823 and 1829, a number of new species were collected, most of which were not published. In 1830, Brown issued his Supplementum, describing eleven additional Banksia species, nine of which were previously unpublished. A revised arrangement was not proffered; instead, Brown gave a position into which each new taxon was to be inserted in the 1810 arrangement. Brown's 1830 arrangement may be summarised as follows: [2]
Brown's Banksia verae was renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847. The arrangement was eventually superseded by Carl Meissner's 1856 revision. Meissner retained Eubanksia and Isostylis, giving them sectional rank. They have since been promoted to subgenus rank by Alex George, although Eubanksia is now known as B. subg. Banksia. [3] [4]
Recent cladistic analyses have revealed a phylogeny that Brown's arrangement fails to reflect. Dryandra is shown to have arisen from within the ranks of Banksia, so should not have been treated as a separate genus; and B. ilicifolia is a fairly derived species, contrary to the basal position suggested by Brown. The phyletic order of species is accurate in some cases but grossly inaccurate in others; for example B. brownii and B. nutans are closely related but are placed very far apart by Brown. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Banksia subg. Isostylis is a subgenus of Banksia. It contains three closely related species, all of which occur only in Southwest Western Australia. Members of subgenus Isostylis have dome-shaped flower heads that are superficially similar to those of B. ser. Dryandra, but structurally more like reduced versions of the "flower spikes" characteristic of most other Banksia taxa.
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.
Banksia spinulosa, the hairpin banksia, is a species of woody shrub, of the genus Banksia in the family Proteaceae, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heathland from Victoria to northern Queensland, generally on sandstone though sometimes also clay soils. It generally grows as a small shrub to 2 metres (7 ft) in height, though can be a straggly tree to 6 metres (20 ft). It has long narrow leaves with inflorescences which can vary considerably in coloration; while the spikes are gold or less commonly yellowish, the emergent styles may be a wide range of colours – from black, purple, red, orange or yellow.
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.
Banksia dentata, commonly known as the tropical banksia, is a species of tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs across northern Australia, southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as a gnarled tree to 7 m (23 ft) high, it has large green leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long with dentate (toothed) margins. The cylindrical yellow inflorescences, up to 13 cm (5.1 in) high, appear over the cooler months, attracting various species of honeyeaters, sunbirds, the sugar glider and a variety of insects. Flowers fall off the ageing spikes, which swell and develop follicles containing up to two viable seeds each.
Banksia dryandroides, the dryandra-leaved banksia, is a species of small shrub in the plant genus Banksia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as manyat. It occurs in shrubland, woodland and kwongan on the south coast of Western Australia between Narrikup and Beaufort Inlet. The species is placed alone in series B. ser. Dryandroideae.
Banksia oblongifolia, commonly known as the fern-leaved, dwarf or rusty banksia, is a species in the plant genus Banksia. Found along the eastern coast of Australia from Wollongong, New South Wales in the south to Rockhampton, Queensland in the north, it generally grows in sandy soils in heath, open forest or swamp margins and wet areas. A many-stemmed shrub up to 3 m (9.8 ft) high, it has leathery serrated leaves and rusty-coloured new growth. The yellow flower spikes, known as inflorescences, most commonly appear in autumn and early winter. Up to 80 follicles, or seed pods, develop on the spikes after flowering. Banksia oblongifolia resprouts from its woody lignotuber after bushfires, and the seed pods open and release seed when burnt, the seed germinating and growing on burnt ground. Some plants grow between fires from seed shed spontaneously.
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.
The taxonomy of Banksia integrifolia has a long and complex history, the result of confusion caused by the species' great variability, and similarities with some closely related species. The existence of hybrids between B. integrifolia and related species as well as early attempts to classify the species based on dried specimen material have also contributed to the confusion.
This is a timeline of developments in knowledge and understanding of the Australian plant genus Banksia:
Dryandra subg. Diplophragma is an obsolete subgenus within the former genus Dryandra. It was first published by Robert Brown in 1830, but was discarded by George Bentham in 1870. It was reinstated with a new circumscription by Alex George in 1996, but was ultimately discarded again in 2007 when Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele sunk Dryandra into Banksia.
George Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in 1870, in Volume 5 of Bentham's Flora Australiensis. A substantial improvement on the previous arrangement, it would stand for over a century. It was eventually replaced by Alex George's 1981 arrangement, published in his classic monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae).
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.
Carl Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in 1856, as part of his chapter on the Proteaceae in A. P. de Candolle's Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. It was the first attempt to provide an infrageneric classification for the genus, aside from Robert Brown's publication of two subgenera in 1810. Meissner's arrangement stood until 1870, when it was superseded by the arrangement of George Bentham. Meissner's arrangement was an excellent survey of the known species at that time, but his infrageneric taxa were all highly heterogeneous.
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.
Banksia sect. Eubanksia is an obsolete section of Banksia. There have been two circumscriptions, one of which is synonymous with the recently abandoned B. subg. Banksiasensu Alex George, the other having no modern equivalent.
Robert Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra was the first arrangement of what is now Banksia ser. Dryandra. His initial arrangement was published in 1810, and a further arrangement, including an infrageneric classification, followed in 1830. Aspects of Brown's arrangements can be recognised in the later arrangements of George Bentham and Alex George.
Banksia spinulosa var. collina is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales. Commonly known as Hill Banksia or Golden Candlesticks, it is a taxonomic variety of B. spinulosa. It is a popular garden plant widely sold in nurseries.
Banksia spinulosa var. spinulosa is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.
Banksia spinulosa var. cunninghamii, sometimes given species rank as Banksia cunninghamii, is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Victoria and New South Wales. It is a fast-growing non-lignotuberous shrub or small tree infrequently cultivated.