Banksia marginata
Encyclopedia
Banksia marginata, commonly known as the Silver Banksia, is a species of tree or woody shrub in the plant genus
Banksia
found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula
in South Australia
, to north of Armidale, New South Wales
, and across Tasmania
and the islands of Bass Strait
. It grows in various habitats, including Eucalyptus
forest, scrub
, heath
land and moorland
. Banksia marginata varies widely in habit
, ranging from a small shrub, 20 cm (8 in) high, to a large tree, 12 m (40 ft) tall. The narrow leaves are linear
and the yellow inflorescence
s (flower spikes) occur from late summer to early winter. The flower spikes fade to brown and then grey and develop woody follicles
bearing the winged seeds. Originally described by Antonio José Cavanilles
in 1800, further collections of B. marginata were described as several separate species by Robert Brown
in 1810. However, all were reclassified as a single species by George Bentham
in 1870. No distinct subspecies
have been recognised by Banksia expert Alex George
, who nonetheless concedes that further work is needed.
Many species of bird, in particular honeyeater
s, forage at the flower spikes, as do native and European honeybees. The response to bushfire varies. Some populations are serotinous
: they are killed by fire and regenerate from large stores of seed which have been held in cones in the plant canopy
and are released. Others regenerate from underground lignotuber
s or suckers
from lateral roots. Although it has been used for timber
, Banksia marginata is most commonly seen as a garden plant, with dwarf
forms being commercially propagated
and sold.
in Victoria's Western District as well as several locations in Tasmania, while compact shrubs limited to 20 cm (8 in) high have been recorded on coastal heath
land in Tasmania (such as at Rocky Cape National Park
). Shrubs reach only 2 m (7 ft) high in Gibraltar Range National Park
. The bark is pale grey and initially smooth before becoming finely tessellated with age. The new branchlets are hairy at first but lose their hairs as they mature, the new growth a pale or pinkish brown. The leaves are alternately arranged on the stems on 2–5 mm long petioles
, and characteristically toothed in juvenile or younger leaves (3 – long). The narrow adult leaves are dull green in colour and generally linear, oblong or wedge-shaped (cuneate) and measure 1.5 – long and 0.3 – wide. The margins become entire with age, and the tip is most commonly truncate or emarginate, but can be acute or mucronate. The cellular makeup of the leaves shows evidence of lignification, and the leaves themselves are somewhat stiff. Leaves also have sunken stoma
tes. The leaf undersurface is white with a prominent midrib covered in brownish hairs.
The complex flower spikes, known as inflorescence
s, appear generally from late summer to early winter (February to June) in New South Wales and Victoria, although flowering occurs in late autumn and winter in the Gibraltar Range. Cylindrical in shape, they are composed of a central woody spike or axis, perpendicularly from which a large number of compact floral units arise, which measure 5 – tall and 4 – wide. Pale yellow in colour, they are composed of up to 1000 individual flowers (784 recorded in the Gibraltar Range) and arise from nodes on branchlets that are at least three years old. Sometimes two may grow from successive nodes in the same flowering season. They can have a grey or golden tinge in late bud. As with most banksias, anthesis
is acropetal; the opening of the individual buds proceeds up the flower spike from the base to the top. Over time the flower spikes fade to brown and then grey, and the old flowers generally persist on the cone. The woody follicles
grow in the six months after flowering, with up to 150 developing on a single flower spike. In many populations, only a few follicles develop. Small and elliptic, they measure 0.7 – long, 0.2 – high, and 0.2 – wide. In coastal and floodplain populations, these usually open spontaneously and release seed, while they generally remain sealed until burnt by fire in plants from heathland and montane habitats. Each follicle contains one or two fertile seeds, between which lies a woody dark brown separator of similar shape to the seeds. Measuring 0.9 – in length, the seed is egg- to wedge-shaped (obovate to cuneate) and composed of a dark brown 0.8 – wide membranous "wing" and wedge- or sickle-shaped (cuneate–falcate) seed proper which measures 0.5 – long by 0.3 – wide. The seed surface can be smooth or covered in tiny ridges, and often glistens. The resulting seedling first grows two obovate cotyledon
leaves, which may remain for several months as several more leaves appear. The cotyledons of Banksia marginata, B. paludosa
and B. integrifolia
are very similar in appearance.
language of western Victoria was warock, while the Kaurna
name from the Adelaide Plains
was pitpauwe and the local name
in the Macquarie Harbour
region in Tasmania was tangan.
A widely distributed and diverse plant, B. marginata was described independently and given many different names by early explorers. It was first collected by Luis Née
in 1793, from somewhere between Sydney
and Parramatta
. In 1800, the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles
gave the species the binomial name it still bears today. The species name is the Latin
adjective marginatus ("bordered") and refers to appearance of the lower surface of the recurved margins of the leaves when viewed from underneath. Cavanilles also described another specimen collected by Née in the same locality as a different species, Banksia microstachya Cav. A smaller shrub with dentate leaves, this turned out to be an immature plant of the same species with juvenile leaves.
Robert Brown
described 31 species of Banksia in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
, including six taxa (B. marginata α and β plus four further species) now attributable to B. marginata. He split the genus into two subgenera, placing these species in subgenus Banksia verae, the "True Banksias". He described Banksia australis R.Br., giving the location of the collection as Port Phillip Bay
in Victoria in 1802 (having crossed out Van Diemen's Land
1804). Brown's other collections which were reduced to synonymy with B. marginata were Banksia depressa R.Br., a prostrate shrub from Margate Rivulet in southeastern Tasmania, Banksia insularis R.Br., from Flinders
and King Island, and Banksia patula R.Br., a shrub from the vicinity of Port Lincoln, South Australia
. The French naturalist Aimé Bonpland
in 1816 called it Banksia marcescens Bonpl., deemed a nomen illegitimum
, as by that time the name Banksia marginata already had been published. Still more synonyms are Banksia ferrea Vent. ex Spreng. and Banksia gunnii Meisn.
By the time Carl Meissner
published his 1856 arrangement
of the genus, there were 58 described Banksia species. Meissner divided Brown's Banksia verae, which had been renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847, into four series based on leaf properties. He listed six species and a further four varieties all now sunk into B. marginata in series Salicinae
.
In 1870, George Bentham
published a thorough revision of Banksia in his landmark publication Flora Australiensis
. In Bentham's arrangement
, the number of recognised Banksia species was reduced from 60 to 46. Bentham observed that the characteristics Brown used to define B. australis, B. depressa, B. patula, and B. insularis were unable to distinguish separate forms
as more specimens came to light, and hence declared them synonyms of B. marginata. Meissner's four series were replaced by four sections based on leaf, style and pollen-presenter
characters. B. marginata was placed in section Eubanksia along with B. integrifolia and B. dentata
.
arrangement of the Banksia genus is based on botanist Alex George
's 1999 monograph for the Flora of Australia
book series. In this arrangement, B. marginata is placed in Banksia subgenus
Banksia
, because its inflorescences take the form of Banksia' s characteristic flower spikes, section
Banksia
because of its straight styles, and series
Salicinae
because its inflorescences are cylindrical. In a morphological
cladistic analysis published in 1994, Kevin Thiele
placed it as the most basal member of a newly described subseries Integrifoliae, within the series Salicinae. However, this subgrouping of the Salicinae was not supported by George. George did concede that major work is needed on Banksia marginata, which shows such a high degree of variability over its range.
B. marginata' s placement within Banksia may be summarised as follows:
Since 1998, American botanist Austin Mast
and co-authors have been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence
data for the subtribe Banksiinae
, which then comprised genera Banksia and Dryandra. Their analyses suggest a phylogeny
that differs greatly from George's taxonomic arrangement. Banksia marginata resolves as the closest relative, or "sister", to B. saxicola, the two taxa
part of a larger group containing B. paludosa and the three subspecies of B. integrifolia. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae
for the taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledons; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking spoon-shaped cotyledons. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete; in the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. marginata is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.
at the site of an old abandoned railway between Newnes
and Clarence
in the Blue Mountains has been recorded; a single B. marginata plant was surrounded by plants with intermediate features but more strongly resembling B. conferta subsp. penicillata. B. marginata can also interbreed with B. paludosa where they are found together. A hybrid with B. saxicola
was recorded from Mount William during the Banksia Atlas
project.
A purported hybrid with B. integrifolia, thought to be from Cape Paterson
on Victoria's south coast, was first described by Alf Salkin and is commercially available in small quantities. It forms an attractive hardy low-growing plant to 1 m (3 ft). Salkin observed an intermediate form which occurred in coastal areas where Banksia marginata and B. integrifolia are found together. Calling it the Wilsons Promontory topodeme, he noted that it colonised sand dunes, had leaves similar to but narrower than integrifolia, and had persisting flowers on old spikes but not as persistent as marginata. He had collected this form from Revesby
in New South Wales as well as Cape Paterson, and had received reports of similar plants at Marlo and Bemm River
s. Stands of plants intermediate between B. integrifolia and B. marginata have been recorded near Mallacoota in East Gippsland
.
in northern New South Wales
, southwards into Victoria
and South Australia
, as well as across Tasmania
. It is found on the major islands of Bass Strait
, including King, Flinders and Cape Barren Islands. There is one report of a collection from the Springbrook Mountains southwest of Southport in southeastern Queensland. It is extremely rare in southwestern New South Wales. In Victoria, it is predominantly coastal or near-coastal east of Traralgon, but in New South Wales it is absent from coastal areas in the Sydney region. Banksia marginata often grew as a large tree on the basalt plains west of Melbourne, but has almost disappeared. In the vicinity of Adelaide, it was common in the western suburbs on old sand dunes behind the beach foredunes. It remains common in the Adelaide foothills. The annual rainfall over its distribution ranges from 400 to 1000 mm (16 to 40 in).
In the Gibraltar Range National Park, it is a dominant shrub of open heathland and a non-dominant shrub of closed heath, mostly found in swampy heath associated with sedges. Plants here have some degree of self-compatibility. In the Sydney region, it grows in association with heath banksia (Banksia ericifolia
), old man banksia (B. serrata
), mountain devil (Lambertia formosa
), lance-leaved geebung (Persoonia lanceolata
) and dwarf apple (Angophora hispida
) in heathland, and with silvertop ash (Eucalyptus sieberi
), Blue Mountains ash (E. oreades
), Sydney peppermint (E. piperita
), scribbly gum (E. haemastoma), Blue Mountains mallee ash (E. stricta
), brittle gum (E. mannifera
), snow gum (E. pauciflora
) and red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera
) in forested areas.
It is widespread as an understory
species in medium rainfall eucalypt
forests across Victoria, occurring in association with manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), narrow-leaf peppermint (E. radiata
), messmate (E. obliqua
), swamp gum (E. ovata
) and brown stringybark (E. baxteri
). It is a common shrub, sometimes small tree, in heathy
and shrubby forests as well as coastal scrub
and heath in part of its range. In South Gippsland
, it is generally a shrub which regenerates from a lignotuber or suckers after bushfire and sets few seed. It has been recorded as a low spreading shrub in Croajingolong National Park
in East Gippsland. In the Wombat State Forest
west of Melbourne, it grows as a 1 to 2 m (3–7 ft) high shrub on less fertile soils, and as a large tree to 8 m (25 ft) on more fertile soils. Few trees remain, having been cleared for agriculture or for fuel. Similarly, further west in the Corangamite
region, it is either a tree or suckering shrub.
In Tasmania, Banksia marginata occupies a wide range of habitats, in mixed forest (where it grows as a small tree), button grass
moorlands, flood plains of the Loddon, Franklin
and Huon River
s, as well as coastal regions. In parts of the west and southwest of Tasmania, the species is dominant within the threatened native vegetation community known as Banksia marginata wet scrub. Interestingly, there is no macrofossil record for the species, so it is unclear whether it is a recent introduction from the mainland or has only recently evolved, although its presence on both the mainland and Tasmania suggests it has been present since the Pleistocene
. It grows in coastal habitats that would be occupied by Banksia integrifolia on the mainland.
Banksia marginata grows on a variety of soil types, from clay loam
s, shale
and peat
y loams to sandy or rocky soils composed of quartzite
, sandstone
, limestone
or granite
, although sandier soils predominate. It is restricted to sandy soils in the Adelaide region. The soil types are of a wide range of pH
, from highly acidic soils
in the Grampians
to alkaline soils in South Australia. Plants have been recorded at altitudes ranging from sea level to as high as 1200 m (400 ft) AHD
at Mount Field National Park
.
Numerous species of birds have been observed foraging and feeding at the flowers; these include Rainbow Lorikeet
(Trichoglossus haematodus), Musk Lorikeet
(Glossopsitta concinna), Purple-crowned Lorikeet
(G. porphyrocephala), Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cyclopsitta diophthalma), Red Wattlebird
(Anthochaera carunculata), Little Wattlebird
(A. chrysoptera), Yellow Wattlebird
(A. paradoxa), Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
(Acanthagenys rufogularis), Yellow-faced Honeyeater
(Lichenostomus chrysops), Singing Honeyeater
(Lichenostomus virescens), White-plumed Honeyeater
(L. penicillatus), Black-chinned Honeyeater
(Melithreptus gularis), Brown-headed Honeyeater
(M. brevirostris), White-naped Honeyeater
(M. lunatus), Crescent Honeyeater
(Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera), New Holland Honeyeater
(P. novaehollandiae), Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
(Gliciphila melanops), Eastern Spinebill
(Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), Noisy Miner
(Manorina melanocephala), Silvereye
(Zosterops lateralis) and thornbill
s (Acanthiza species). In addition, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
(Calyptorhynchus funereus) feeds on the seed.
The Agile Antechinus
(Antechinus agilis), Bush Rat
(Rattus fuscipes), Feathertail Glider
(Acrobates pygmaeus), and Sugar Glider
(Petaurus breviceps) have been recorded visiting flower spikes. Both pollen and nectar are consumed by the Southwestern Pygmy Possum
(Cercarteus concinnus). Ants, bees (both native and European honeybees), blowflies and brown butterflies have been recorded as visitors to flower spikes. The wasp Mesostoa kerri of the subfamily Mesostoinae
within the family Braconidae
causes stem galls on B. marginata in southeastern South Australia. The galls are either round to a diameter of 3.3 cm (1.3 in), or cigar-shaped to 15 cm (6 in). Their effect on the plant is unclear. B. marginata is a host plant for the larval and adult stages of the buprestid beetle Cyrioides imperialis. Much more pathological is the banksia longicorn beetle (Paroplites australis) which bores holes in the base of banksia plants which then weaken and fall or blow over with wind and die. Several species of fungus have been recorded growing on the foliage, including Acrospermum gaubae, Argopericonia elegans, Asterina systema-solare, Botryosphaeria banksiae, a species of Cladosporium
, Cooksonomyces banksiae, Dimerium banksiae, Episphaerella banksiae, a Periconiella
species, Satchmopsis australiensis, Tryssglobulus aspergilloides, and a species of Veronaea
.
All banksias have developed proteoid or cluster roots in response to the nutrient-poor conditions of Australian soils (particularly lacking in phosphorus
). The root system of the suckering
forms of Banksia marginata in Victoria and South Australia have a characteristic pattern with a deep tap root, and an extensive system of thick lateral roots 7.5–15 cm (3–6 in) below the surface. During the winter months, segments around 30 cm (1 ft) in length develop vegetative buds capable of forming suckers. Clusters of fine proteoid roots up to 15 cm (6 in) long arise from these lateral roots.
The response of Banksia marginata to fire is variable. In the Gibraltar Range and Sydney regions, plants are killed by fire and regenerate from seed. They are serotinous
, storing their seed in old cones, forming a seedbank in their canopy which is released after bushfire. A field study found that seeds were dispersed short distances (generally 8 m [25 ft] or less), with those closest to the parent plant faring the best. In Little Desert National Park
in northwestern Victoria and also eastern south Australia, it grows as a low shrub which suckers (shoots growing from lateral roots) after fire. Plants do not appear to live longer than 25 years; after this time the ageing plants begin to die and are succeeded by younger plants arising from suckers around the parent. A field study in Gippsland found counting the nodes of Banksia marginata plants to be accurate in indicating age within a year up to 21 years since the last fire. There is anecodotal evidence of plants reaching 150 years old in this region. Plant species from communities dependent on fire are thought to self-select to be more flammable; Banksia marginata tested from a dry sclerophyll community in southeastern Tasmania was shown to burn readily, and fire would spread easily through it.
Tasmanian forms have been shown to be frost tolerant at any time of year, which might explain some of their success in spreading and growing in different habitats around the island. This attribute might have allowed them to survive cold periods in Tasmania in the Pleistocene.
A trial in Western Australia showed Banksia marginata to be mildly sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi
dieback. At Brisbane Ranges National Park
west of Melbourne, which was invaded by Phytophthora cinnamomi in the 1970s, Banksia marginata (along with such species as Grevillea steiglitziana
) was part of a secondary regrowth of understory species after more resistant shrubs such as grasses and sedges had grown back.
before use to avoid warping. A sample was prepared in Victoria in 1885 as part of a collection of local timber species under the direction of Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller
. The collection was displayed in various exhibitions, including the Exposition Universelle
in Paris in 1889, and is housed at the Melbourne Museum
.
Banksia marginata was first introduced into cultivation in England in 1802 (and was also listed as B. australis, B. insularis and B. marcescens); it was grown at Kew
, Cambridge Botanic Gardens
, Woburn Abbey
and private gardens in Chelsea
, Hackney
and Haringay House. One specimen grown in a glasshouse at Kew was described as a tree 24 feet (7 m) high with a trunk girth of two feet (60 cm) at 40 years of age.
B. marginata is generally fairly easy to grow in a well-drained sunny or part-shaded position in the garden. It can be leggy in shadier positions, or a more compact bushy shrub in full sun. Some varieties from drier areas seem to do poorly in areas of summer humidity. The flowers are not prominent unless they are numerous. Established plants can withstand drought, coastal exposure and temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F). Propagation
of plants can be by seed or cuttings; the latter is essential if trying to replicate plants of particular habit (such as dwarf specimens). Some Banksia marginata seed of subalpine provenance require stratification
, namely keeping at 5 °C (41 °F) for 60 days before germination takes place over 6 to 25 days. Salkin proposed this was necessary so that seed released in a summer or autumn bushfire would lie dormant over the winter months before germinating in the spring. Banksia saxicola and Banksia canei seed also share this trait.
Some dwarf forms have been commercially available in Australian nurseries, although some selections do not maintain their dwarf status in cultivation. Banksia 'Mini Marg' is a small form selected from the northeastern coast of Tasmania which reaches 30 cm (12 in) high and 1 m (3 ft) wide. 'Mallacoota Dwarf' was selected from a natural population at Mallacoota, Victoria
. Alf Salkin reported a form from Kanangra Walls
with a peach-tinged limb as having horticultural potential, as well as a prostrate
form from Cape Liptrap
in Victoria. Banksia marginata, and the dwarf cultivar
'Mini Marg', have also been used in bonsai
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Banksia
Banksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, to north of Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale, New South Wales
Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale Dumaresq Shire had a population of 19,485 people according to the 2006 census. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region...
, and across Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and the islands of Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
. It grows in various habitats, including Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
forest, scrub
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
, heath
Heath
-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
land and moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
. Banksia marginata varies widely in habit
Habit (biology)
Habit, when used in the context of biology, refers to the instinctive actions of animals and the natural tendencies of plants.In zoology, this term most often refers to specific behavioral characteristics, even when directly related to physiology...
, ranging from a small shrub, 20 cm (8 in) high, to a large tree, 12 m (40 ft) tall. The narrow leaves are linear
Leaf shape
In botany, leaf shape is characterised with the following terms :* Acicular : Slender and pointed, needle-like* Acuminate : Tapering to a long point...
and the yellow inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s (flower spikes) occur from late summer to early winter. The flower spikes fade to brown and then grey and develop woody follicles
Follicle (fruit)
In botany, a follicle is a dry unilocular many-seeded fruit formed from one carpel and dehiscing by the ventral suture in order to release seeds, such as in larkspur, magnolia, banksia, peony and milkweed....
bearing the winged seeds. Originally described by Antonio José Cavanilles
Antonio José Cavanilles
Antonio José Cavanilles was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania, his name is abbreviated as Cav...
in 1800, further collections of B. marginata were described as several separate species by Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
in 1810. However, all were reclassified as a single species by George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
in 1870. No distinct subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
have been recognised by Banksia expert Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
, who nonetheless concedes that further work is needed.
Many species of bird, in particular honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s, forage at the flower spikes, as do native and European honeybees. The response to bushfire varies. Some populations are serotinous
Serotiny
Serotiny is an ecological adaptation exhibited by some seed plants, in which seed release occurs in response to an environmental trigger, rather than spontaneously at seed maturation. The most common and best studied trigger is fire, and the term serotiny is often used to refer to this specific case...
: they are killed by fire and regenerate from large stores of seed which have been held in cones in the plant canopy
Canopy seed bank
A canopy seed bank or aerial seed bank is the aggregate of viable seed stored by a plant in its canopy. Canopy seed banks occur in plants that postpone seed release for some reason....
and are released. Others regenerate from underground lignotuber
Lignotuber
A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...
s or suckers
Basal shoot
A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots. This shoot then becomes, or takes the form of, a singular plant. A plant that produces suckers is referred to as surculose...
from lateral roots. Although it has been used for timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, Banksia marginata is most commonly seen as a garden plant, with dwarf
Dwarfing
Dwarfing is a characteristic in plants and animals whereby one or more members of a breed or cultivar are significantly smaller than standard members of their species...
forms being commercially propagated
Plant propagation
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
and sold.
Description
Banksia marginata is a highly variable species, usually ranging from a small shrub around a metre (3 ft) tall to a 12 m (40 ft) high tree. Unusually large trees of 15 to possibly 30 m (50–100 ft) have been reported near BeeacBeeac, Victoria
Beeac is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the shore of the hyper saline Lake Beeac in the Colac Otway Shire Local Government Area, 160 kilometres south of the state capital, Melbourne...
in Victoria's Western District as well as several locations in Tasmania, while compact shrubs limited to 20 cm (8 in) high have been recorded on coastal heath
Heath
-Habitats:* Heath or heathland, low-growing woody vegetation, mostly consisting of heathers and related species* Heaths in the British National Vegetation Classification system...
land in Tasmania (such as at Rocky Cape National Park
Rocky Cape National Park
Rocky Cape is a national park in Tasmania , approximately 400 km northwest of Hobart. The nearest town is Burnie.-See also:* Protected areas of Tasmania...
). Shrubs reach only 2 m (7 ft) high in Gibraltar Range National Park
Gibraltar Range National Park
Gibraltar Range is a national park in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, 79 km north-east of Glen Innes and 493 km north of Sydney...
. The bark is pale grey and initially smooth before becoming finely tessellated with age. The new branchlets are hairy at first but lose their hairs as they mature, the new growth a pale or pinkish brown. The leaves are alternately arranged on the stems on 2–5 mm long petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
, and characteristically toothed in juvenile or younger leaves (3 – long). The narrow adult leaves are dull green in colour and generally linear, oblong or wedge-shaped (cuneate) and measure 1.5 – long and 0.3 – wide. The margins become entire with age, and the tip is most commonly truncate or emarginate, but can be acute or mucronate. The cellular makeup of the leaves shows evidence of lignification, and the leaves themselves are somewhat stiff. Leaves also have sunken stoma
Stoma
In botany, a stoma is a pore, found in the leaf and stem epidermis that is used forgas exchange. The pore is bordered by a pair of specialized parenchyma cells known as guard cells that are responsible for regulating the size of the opening...
tes. The leaf undersurface is white with a prominent midrib covered in brownish hairs.
The complex flower spikes, known as inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s, appear generally from late summer to early winter (February to June) in New South Wales and Victoria, although flowering occurs in late autumn and winter in the Gibraltar Range. Cylindrical in shape, they are composed of a central woody spike or axis, perpendicularly from which a large number of compact floral units arise, which measure 5 – tall and 4 – wide. Pale yellow in colour, they are composed of up to 1000 individual flowers (784 recorded in the Gibraltar Range) and arise from nodes on branchlets that are at least three years old. Sometimes two may grow from successive nodes in the same flowering season. They can have a grey or golden tinge in late bud. As with most banksias, anthesis
Anthesis
Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. It may also refer to the onset of that period.The onset of anthesis is spectacular in some species. In Banksia species, for example, anthesis involves the extension of the style far beyond the upper perianth parts...
is acropetal; the opening of the individual buds proceeds up the flower spike from the base to the top. Over time the flower spikes fade to brown and then grey, and the old flowers generally persist on the cone. The woody follicles
Follicle (fruit)
In botany, a follicle is a dry unilocular many-seeded fruit formed from one carpel and dehiscing by the ventral suture in order to release seeds, such as in larkspur, magnolia, banksia, peony and milkweed....
grow in the six months after flowering, with up to 150 developing on a single flower spike. In many populations, only a few follicles develop. Small and elliptic, they measure 0.7 – long, 0.2 – high, and 0.2 – wide. In coastal and floodplain populations, these usually open spontaneously and release seed, while they generally remain sealed until burnt by fire in plants from heathland and montane habitats. Each follicle contains one or two fertile seeds, between which lies a woody dark brown separator of similar shape to the seeds. Measuring 0.9 – in length, the seed is egg- to wedge-shaped (obovate to cuneate) and composed of a dark brown 0.8 – wide membranous "wing" and wedge- or sickle-shaped (cuneate–falcate) seed proper which measures 0.5 – long by 0.3 – wide. The seed surface can be smooth or covered in tiny ridges, and often glistens. The resulting seedling first grows two obovate cotyledon
Cotyledon
A cotyledon , is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant. Upon germination, the cotyledon may become the embryonic first leaves of a seedling. The number of cotyledons present is one characteristic used by botanists to classify the flowering plants...
leaves, which may remain for several months as several more leaves appear. The cotyledons of Banksia marginata, B. paludosa
Banksia paludosa
Banksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is endemic to New South Wales, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolate population further south around Eden...
and B. integrifolia
Banksia integrifolia
Banksia integrifolia, commonly known as Coast Banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed Banksia species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a broad range of habitats, from coastal dunes to mountains...
are very similar in appearance.
Taxonomy and naming
Banksia marginata is commonly called the silver banksia, because the white undersides of its leaves contrast with the otherwise green foliage and give the plant a "silvery" look. Alternate common names include honeysuckle and dwarf honeysuckle. The aboriginal name in the JardwadjaliJardwadjali
The Jardwadjali people are Indigenous Australians who occupy the lands in the upper Wimmera River watershed east to Gariwerd and west to Lake Bringalbert. The towns of Horsham, Cavendish, Coleraine, Asply, Minyip and Donald are within their territory...
language of western Victoria was warock, while the Kaurna
Kaurna language
"Kaurna" is the language of the Kaurna people, an Australian aboriginal ethnic group, in South Australia. It was historically spoken on the Adelaide Plains from Crystal Brook and Clare in the north, to Cape Jervis in the south. It became extinct in the 19th century but was revived and reconstructed...
name from the Adelaide Plains
Adelaide Plains
The Adelaide Plains is the area in South Australia between the Mount Lofty Ranges on the east and Gulf St Vincent on the west. The plains are generally fertile with annual rainfall of about per year....
was pitpauwe and the local name
Tasmanian languages
The Tasmanian languages, or Palawa languages, were the languages indigenous to the island of Tasmania. Based on short wordlists, it appears that there were anywhere from five to sixteen languages on Tasmania....
in the Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour
Macquarie Harbour is a large, shallow, but navigable by shallow draft vessels inlet on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.-History:James Kelly wrote in his narrative "First Discovery of Port Davey and Macquarie Harbour" how he sailed from Hobart in a small open five-oared whaleboat to discover...
region in Tasmania was tangan.
A widely distributed and diverse plant, B. marginata was described independently and given many different names by early explorers. It was first collected by Luis Née
Luis Née
Luis Née was a Franco-Spanish botanist, who accompanied the Malaspina expedition to the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and Australia.He described many new plants, including the Coast Live Oak, which he discovered in California....
in 1793, from somewhere between Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
. In 1800, the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles
Antonio José Cavanilles
Antonio José Cavanilles was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania, his name is abbreviated as Cav...
gave the species the binomial name it still bears today. The species name is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
adjective marginatus ("bordered") and refers to appearance of the lower surface of the recurved margins of the leaves when viewed from underneath. Cavanilles also described another specimen collected by Née in the same locality as a different species, Banksia microstachya Cav. A smaller shrub with dentate leaves, this turned out to be an immature plant of the same species with juvenile leaves.
Robert Brown
Robert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
described 31 species of Banksia in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen
Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen is an 1810 flora of Australia by botanist Robert Brown. Often referred to as Prodromus Flora Novae Hollandiae, or by its standard botanical abbreviation Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holland., it was the first attempt at a survey of the Australian flora...
, including six taxa (B. marginata α and β plus four further species) now attributable to B. marginata. He split the genus into two subgenera, placing these species in subgenus Banksia verae, the "True Banksias". He described Banksia australis R.Br., giving the location of the collection as Port Phillip Bay
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
in Victoria in 1802 (having crossed out Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
1804). Brown's other collections which were reduced to synonymy with B. marginata were Banksia depressa R.Br., a prostrate shrub from Margate Rivulet in southeastern Tasmania, Banksia insularis R.Br., from Flinders
Flinders Island
Flinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island...
and King Island, and Banksia patula R.Br., a shrub from the vicinity of Port Lincoln, South Australia
Port Lincoln, South Australia
- Transport :Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway.There is also a subsidiary port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic. The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. Port...
. The French naturalist Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Bonpland
Aimé Jacques Alexandre Bonpland was a French explorer and botanist.Bonpland's real name was Goujaud, and he was born in La Rochelle, a coastal city in France. After serving as a surgeon in the French army, and studying under J. N...
in 1816 called it Banksia marcescens Bonpl., deemed a nomen illegitimum
Nomen illegitimum
A nomen illegitimum is a technical term, used mainly in botany. It is usually abbreviated as nom. illeg..-Definition:...
, as by that time the name Banksia marginata already had been published. Still more synonyms are Banksia ferrea Vent. ex Spreng. and Banksia gunnii Meisn.
By the time Carl Meissner
Carl Meissner
Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner was a Swiss botanist.Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 year career he was Professor of Botany at University of Basel...
published his 1856 arrangement
Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
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...
of the genus, there were 58 described Banksia species. Meissner divided Brown's Banksia verae, which had been renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847, into four series based on leaf properties. He listed six species and a further four varieties all now sunk into B. marginata in series Salicinae
Banksia ser. Salicinae
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.-According to Meissner:...
.
In 1870, George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
published a thorough revision of Banksia in his landmark publication Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory, more commonly referred to as Flora Australiensis, and also known by its standard abbreviation Fl. Austral., is a seven-volume flora of Australia published between 1863 and 1878 by George Bentham, with the assistance of...
. In Bentham's arrangement
Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of 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...
, the number of recognised Banksia species was reduced from 60 to 46. Bentham observed that the characteristics Brown used to define B. australis, B. depressa, B. patula, and B. insularis were unable to distinguish separate forms
Form (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...
as more specimens came to light, and hence declared them synonyms of B. marginata. Meissner's four series were replaced by four sections based on leaf, style and pollen-presenter
Pollen-presenter
A pollen-presenter is an area on the tip of the pistil in flowers of plants of the family Proteaceae. In this family, the anthers are difficult of access for potential pollination vectors such as bees, birds and nectariferous mammals....
characters. B. marginata was placed in section Eubanksia along with B. integrifolia and B. dentata
Banksia dentata
The Tropical Banksia is a species of small tree in the plant genus Banksia.-Distribution and habitat:It occurs throughout northern Australia, and also extends into New Guinea and the Aru Islands...
.
Placement within Banksia
The current taxonomicTaxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
arrangement of the Banksia genus is based on botanist Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
's 1999 monograph for the Flora of Australia
Flora of Australia (series)
The Flora of Australia is a 59 volume series describing the vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens present in Australia and its external territories...
book series. In this arrangement, B. marginata is placed in Banksia subgenus
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
Banksia
Banksia subg. Banksia
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 verae:B. subg...
, because its inflorescences take the form of Banksia
Section (botany)
In botany, a section is a taxonomic rank below the genus, but above the species. The subgenus, if present, is higher than the section, and the rank of series, if present, is below the section. Sections are typically used to help organise very large genera, which may have hundreds of species...
Banksia
Banksia sect. Banksia
Banksia sect. Banksia is one of four sections of Banksia subgenus Banksia. It contains those species of subgenus Banksia with straight or sometimes curved but not hooked styles. These species all have cylindrical inflorescences and usually exhibit a bottom-up sequence of flower anthesis...
because of its straight styles, and series
Series (botany)
Series is a low-level taxonomic rank below that of section but above that of species.In botany, a series is a subdivision of a genus...
Salicinae
Banksia ser. Salicinae
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.-According to Meissner:...
because its inflorescences are cylindrical. In a morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
cladistic analysis published in 1994, Kevin Thiele
Kevin Thiele
Kevin R. Thiele is curator of the Western Australian Herbarium. His research interests include the systematics of the plant families Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae and Violaceae, and the conservation ecology of grassy woodland ecosystems...
placed it as the most basal member of a newly described subseries Integrifoliae, within the series Salicinae. However, this subgrouping of the Salicinae was not supported by George. George did concede that major work is needed on Banksia marginata, which shows such a high degree of variability over its range.
- Genus BanksiaBanksiaBanksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
- Subgenus
Banksia subg. IsostylisBanksia 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... - Subgenus BanksiaBanksia subg. BanksiaBanksia 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 verae:B. subg...
- Section OncostylisBanksia sect. OncostylisBanksia sect. Oncostylis is one of four sections of subgenus Banksia subg. Banksia. It contains those Banksia species with hooked pistils. All of the species in Oncostylis also exhibit a top-down sequence of flower anthesis, except for Banksia nutans which is bottom-up.Banksia sect...
- Section CoccineaBanksia coccineaBanksia coccinea, commonly known as the Scarlet Banksia, Waratah Banksia or Albany Banksia, is an erect shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia...
- Section BanksiaBanksia sect. BanksiaBanksia sect. Banksia is one of four sections of Banksia subgenus Banksia. It contains those species of subgenus Banksia with straight or sometimes curved but not hooked styles. These species all have cylindrical inflorescences and usually exhibit a bottom-up sequence of flower anthesis...
- Series
Banksia ser. GrandesBanksia ser. Grandes is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of two closely related species in section Banksia, both endemic to Western Australia. These are B. grandis and B. solandri .... - Series BanksiaBanksia ser. BanksiaBanksia ser. Banksia is avalid botanic name for a series of Banksia. As an autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of Banksia, B. serrata . Within this constraint, however, there have been various circumscriptions.-According to Bentham:Banksia ser. Banksia originated in 1870 as...
- Series CrocinaeBanksia ser. CrocinaeBanksia ser. Crocinae is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of four closely related species, all of which are endemic to Western Australia; namely B. prionotes , B. burdettii , B. hookeriana and B. victoriae...
- Series ProstrataeBanksia ser. ProstrataeBanksia ser. Prostratae is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of six closely related species in section Banksia, all endemic to Western Australia, with a prostrate habit.Banksia ser...
- Series CyrtostylisBanksia ser. CyrtostylisBanksia ser. Cyrtostylis is a valid botanic name for a taxonomic series within the plant genus Banksia. First published at sectional rank by George Bentham in 1870, it was demoted to a series by Alex George in 1981. The name has had three circumscriptions.-According to Bentham:Bentham published B....
- Series TetragonaeBanksia ser. TetragonaeBanksia ser. Tetragonae is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of three closely related species of erect shrub with pendulous inflorescences in section Banksia. These are B. lemanniana , B. caleyi and B. aculeata ....
- Series Bauerinae
- Series QuercinaeBanksia ser. QuercinaeBanksia ser. Quercinae is avalid botanic name for a series of Banksia. First published by Carl Meissner in 1856, the name has had three circumscriptions.-According to Meissner:...
- Series SalicinaeBanksia ser. SalicinaeBanksia 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.-According to Meissner:...
- B. dentataBanksia dentataThe Tropical Banksia is a species of small tree in the plant genus Banksia.-Distribution and habitat:It occurs throughout northern Australia, and also extends into New Guinea and the Aru Islands...
– B. aquiloniaBanksia aquiloniaBanksia aquilonia is a species of tall shrub or tree in the plant genus Banksia.-Description:B. aquilonia grows as a tall shrub or small tree up to 8 metres high. It has hard, fissured, grey bark, and elliptic leaves without serrated margins...
– B. integrifoliaBanksia integrifoliaBanksia integrifolia, commonly known as Coast Banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed Banksia species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a broad range of habitats, from coastal dunes to mountains...
– B. plagiocarpaBanksia plagiocarpaBanksia plagiocarpa, commonly known as the Dallachy's banksia or blue banksia, is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs only on Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland and the immediately adjacent mainland....
– B. oblongifoliaBanksia oblongifoliaThe Fern-leaved Banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs along the eastern coast of Australia from Wollongong, New South Wales in the south to Rockhampton, Queensland in the north...
– B. roburBanksia roburBanksia robur, commonly known as Swamp Banksia or, less commonly, Broad-leaved Banksia grows in sand or peaty sand in coastal areas from Cooktown in north Queensland to the Illawarra region on the New South Wales south coast...
– B. confertaBanksia confertaThe Glasshouse Banksia is a species of montane shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs as distinct subspecies in two widely separated locations: B. conferta subsp. conferta in southern Queensland on the Lamington Plateau and further north in the Glass House Mountains; and...
– B. paludosaBanksia paludosaBanksia paludosa, commonly known as the marsh or swamp banksia, is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It is endemic to New South Wales, where it is found between Sydney and Batemans Bay, with an isolate population further south around Eden...
– B. marginata – B. caneiBanksia caneiThe mountain banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in subalpine areas of the Great Dividing Range between Melbourne and Canberra in southeastern Australia...
– B. saxicolaBanksia saxicolaBanksia saxicola, commonly known as the Grampians Banksia is a species of tree or shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in Victoria in two distinct populations, one in The Grampians and the other on Wilsons Promontory....
- B. dentata
- Section Oncostylis
Since 1998, American botanist Austin Mast
Austin Mast
Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently an associate professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University , and has been director of FSU's since August 2003.One of his...
and co-authors have been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
data for the subtribe Banksiinae
Grevilleoideae
Grevilleoideae is a subfamily of the Proteaceae family of flowering plants. Mainly restricted to the southern hemisphere, it contains around 44 genera and about 950 species. Genera include Banksia, Grevillea and Macadamia.-Description:...
, which then comprised genera Banksia and Dryandra. Their analyses suggest a phylogeny
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices...
that differs greatly from George's taxonomic arrangement. Banksia marginata resolves as the closest relative, or "sister", to B. saxicola, the two taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
part of a larger group containing B. paludosa and the three subspecies of B. integrifolia. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae
Banksia subg. Spathulatae
Banksia subg. Spathulatae is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of Banksia. It was published in 2007 by Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele, and defined as containing all those Banksia species having spathulate cotyledons...
for the taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledons; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking spoon-shaped cotyledons. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete; in the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. marginata is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.
Hybrids with other species
Hybridisation with Banksia conferta subsp. penicillataBanksia conferta subsp. penicillata
The Newnes Plateau Banksia is a plant only described in 1981 though collected in the 1970s...
at the site of an old abandoned railway between Newnes
Newnes, New South Wales
Newnes located in the Wolgan Valley, New South Wales, Australia, and partly surrounded by the Wollemi National Park, is an abandoned oil shale mining site that was operational in the early 20th centuries...
and Clarence
Clarence, New South Wales
Clarence is a place in New South Wales, Australia. It was originally a railway outpost on the original railway line across the Blue Mountains, but by 1908 when Clarence was used as headquarters for the Ten Tunnel deviation works, the town population had flourished to over 5,000 residents, the...
in the Blue Mountains has been recorded; a single B. marginata plant was surrounded by plants with intermediate features but more strongly resembling B. conferta subsp. penicillata. B. marginata can also interbreed with B. paludosa where they are found together. A hybrid with B. saxicola
Banksia saxicola
Banksia saxicola, commonly known as the Grampians Banksia is a species of tree or shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in Victoria in two distinct populations, one in The Grampians and the other on Wilsons Promontory....
was recorded from Mount William during the Banksia Atlas
The Banksia Atlas
The Banksia Atlas is an atlas that documents the ranges, habitats and growth forms of various species and other subgeneric taxa of Banksia, an iconic Australian wildflower genus...
project.
A purported hybrid with B. integrifolia, thought to be from Cape Paterson
Cape Paterson, Victoria
Cape Paterson is a cape and town in Gippsland, Victoria . The cape was named by Lieut. James Grant in 1801, honouring explorer Lieut. Col. William Paterson.At the 2006 census, Cape Paterson had a population of 674....
on Victoria's south coast, was first described by Alf Salkin and is commercially available in small quantities. It forms an attractive hardy low-growing plant to 1 m (3 ft). Salkin observed an intermediate form which occurred in coastal areas where Banksia marginata and B. integrifolia are found together. Calling it the Wilsons Promontory topodeme, he noted that it colonised sand dunes, had leaves similar to but narrower than integrifolia, and had persisting flowers on old spikes but not as persistent as marginata. He had collected this form from Revesby
Revesby, New South Wales
Revesby, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 22 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney region....
in New South Wales as well as Cape Paterson, and had received reports of similar plants at Marlo and Bemm River
Bemm River
The Bemm River is a river of Gippsland in southeastern Victoria, Australia. It is formed by the confluence of the Errinundra and Combienbar Rivers and enters Bass Strait via Sydenham Inlet in the Cape Conran Coastal Park near the township of Bemm River....
s. Stands of plants intermediate between B. integrifolia and B. marginata have been recorded near Mallacoota in East Gippsland
East Gippsland
East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Australia covering 31,740 square kilometres of Victoria. It has a population of 80,114....
.
Distribution and habitat
Banksia marginata is found from Baradine and Gibraltar Range National ParkGibraltar Range National Park
Gibraltar Range is a national park in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, 79 km north-east of Glen Innes and 493 km north of Sydney...
in northern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, southwards into Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, as well as across Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. It is found on the major islands of Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
, including King, Flinders and Cape Barren Islands. There is one report of a collection from the Springbrook Mountains southwest of Southport in southeastern Queensland. It is extremely rare in southwestern New South Wales. In Victoria, it is predominantly coastal or near-coastal east of Traralgon, but in New South Wales it is absent from coastal areas in the Sydney region. Banksia marginata often grew as a large tree on the basalt plains west of Melbourne, but has almost disappeared. In the vicinity of Adelaide, it was common in the western suburbs on old sand dunes behind the beach foredunes. It remains common in the Adelaide foothills. The annual rainfall over its distribution ranges from 400 to 1000 mm (16 to 40 in).
In the Gibraltar Range National Park, it is a dominant shrub of open heathland and a non-dominant shrub of closed heath, mostly found in swampy heath associated with sedges. Plants here have some degree of self-compatibility. In the Sydney region, it grows in association with heath banksia (Banksia ericifolia
Banksia ericifolia
Banksia ericifolia, the Heath-leaved Banksia , is a species of woody shrub of the Proteaceae family native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range...
), old man banksia (B. serrata
Banksia serrata
Banksia serrata, commonly known as Old Man Banksia, Saw Banksia, Saw-tooth Banksia and Red Honeysuckle, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus Banksia in the Proteaceae family. Native the east coast of Australia, it is found from Queensland through to Victoria with outlying populations on...
), mountain devil (Lambertia formosa
Lambertia formosa
Lambertia formosa, commonly known as Mountain Devil, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae endemic to New South Wales, Australia. First described by English botanist James Edward Smith in 1798, its specific name formosa is the Latin adjective for 'handsome'. No subspecies are recognised...
), lance-leaved geebung (Persoonia lanceolata
Persoonia lanceolata
Persoonia lanceolata, commonly known as lance-leaf geebung, is a shrub native to New South Wales in eastern Australia. It reaches in height and has smooth grey bark and bright green foliage...
) and dwarf apple (Angophora hispida
Angophora hispida
Angophora hispida grows as a malee, or as a tree to about 7 m in height.A. hispidas small size, especially when compared to its Angophora and Eucalyptus relatives, leads to it being known by the common name Dwarf Apple...
) in heathland, and with silvertop ash (Eucalyptus sieberi
Eucalyptus sieberi
Eucalyptus sieberi, the Silvertop Ash or Black Ash is a common eucalyptus tree of south eastern Australia. The range of distribution is in the higher rainfall areas, from near sea level to high altitude...
), Blue Mountains ash (E. oreades
Eucalyptus oreades
Eucalyptus oreades, commonly known as the Blue Mountains Ash, is a species of eucalyptus native to eastern Australia.-Taxonomy:First collected by Richard Thomas Baker and Henry George Smith at Adelina Falls near Lawson in the Blue Mountains on 22 April 1899, Eucalyptus oreades was described by Baker...
), Sydney peppermint (E. piperita
Eucalyptus piperita
Eucalyptus piperita, commonly known as Sydney Peppermint and Urn-fruited Peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:...
), scribbly gum (E. haemastoma), Blue Mountains mallee ash (E. stricta
Eucalyptus stricta
Eucalyptus stricta, commonly known as Blue Mountains Mallee Ash, is a small eucalyptus plant mostly seen growing in the Blue Mountains region in central eastern New South Wales. A mallee growing up to 5 metres tall, but usually seen much smaller. A common plant in poorly drained shallow sandy...
), brittle gum (E. mannifera
Eucalyptus mannifera
Eucalyptus mannifera, commonly known as the Brittle Gum or Broad leaved Manna Gum, is a species of eucalypt native to eastern Australia....
), snow gum (E. pauciflora
Eucalyptus pauciflora
The Snow Gum is a small tree or large shrub native to eastern Australia.-Habitat:It is usually found in the subalpine habitats of eastern Australia. Snow Gums also grow in lowland habitats where they can reach heights of up to 20 metres. Lowland Snow Gum is sometimes known as White Sallee, Cabbage...
) and red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera
Corymbia gummifera
Corymbia gummifera, commonly known as Red Bloodwood, is a hardwood tree native to eastern Australia.-Description:It usually grows as a tree, but may take the form of a mallee in very poor soils. As a tree it typically grows to a height of 20 to 34 metres and a trunk diameter of one metre dbh....
) in forested areas.
It is widespread as an understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
species in medium rainfall eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
forests across Victoria, occurring in association with manna gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), narrow-leaf peppermint (E. radiata
Eucalyptus radiata
Eucalyptus radiata is a medium to tall tree to 30 m high with persistent bark on the trunk and larger branches or persistent to smaller branches. The bark shortly fibrous , grey to grey-brown, shedding in long ribbons...
), messmate (E. obliqua
Eucalyptus obliqua
Eucalyptus obliqua, commonly known as Australian Oak, Brown Top, Brown Top Stringbark, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark and Tasmanian Oak, is a hardwood tree native to south-eastern Australia....
), swamp gum (E. ovata
Eucalyptus ovata
Eucalyptus ovata, commonly known as Swamp gum or Black Gum, is a widespread occurring Australian eucalypt.The swamp gum is a small to , medium sized tree, rarely a mallee, with bark that sheds over most of the trunk revealing a smooth, grey, whitish or pinkish-grey surface. The rough bark is...
) and brown stringybark (E. baxteri
Eucalyptus baxteri
The brown stringybark is a eucalypt which is native to Australia's southeast, occurring from southern New South Wales through Victoria and into the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island of eastern South Australia. It is a medium-sized tree which can reach 40 m in height. The rough stringy bark...
). It is a common shrub, sometimes small tree, in heathy
Heath (habitat)
A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
and shrubby forests as well as coastal scrub
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
and heath in part of its range. In South Gippsland
South Gippsland
South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promontory, the southernmost point of Victoria and mainland...
, it is generally a shrub which regenerates from a lignotuber or suckers after bushfire and sets few seed. It has been recorded as a low spreading shrub in Croajingolong National Park
Croajingolong National Park
Croajingolong is a coastal national park in Victoria, Australia, 427 kilometres east of Melbourne.The name is thought to derive from the aboriginal word Krowathunkooloong, the name of the tribe inhabiting that area of Victoria.-Description:...
in East Gippsland. In the Wombat State Forest
Wombat State Forest
The Wombat State Forest is located west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between Woodend and Daylesford, at the Great Dividing Range. The forest is approximately in size and sits upon Ordovician or Tertiary sediments...
west of Melbourne, it grows as a 1 to 2 m (3–7 ft) high shrub on less fertile soils, and as a large tree to 8 m (25 ft) on more fertile soils. Few trees remain, having been cleared for agriculture or for fuel. Similarly, further west in the Corangamite
Corangamite Catchment Management Authority
The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority region spans 13,000 square kilometres of south-west Victoria, Australia. About 350,000 people live within the catchment area, which stretches from Ballarat to Geelong and along the coast to Peterborough....
region, it is either a tree or suckering shrub.
In Tasmania, Banksia marginata occupies a wide range of habitats, in mixed forest (where it grows as a small tree), button grass
Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus
Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus, commonly known as button grass, is a species of tussock-forming grass from southeastern Australia. It forms part of a unique habitat in Tasmania....
moorlands, flood plains of the Loddon, Franklin
Franklin River
The Franklin River lies in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it continues west towards the West Coast of Tasmania...
and Huon River
Huon River
The Huon River is the fourth largest river in Tasmania, Australia. It is 170 km in length, and runs through the fertile Huon Valley. From Scotts Peak Dam at Lake Pedder where it begins, it flows south-east to the Tahune Airwalk, where the Picton River joins, before heading through the rural...
s, as well as coastal regions. In parts of the west and southwest of Tasmania, the species is dominant within the threatened native vegetation community known as Banksia marginata wet scrub. Interestingly, there is no macrofossil record for the species, so it is unclear whether it is a recent introduction from the mainland or has only recently evolved, although its presence on both the mainland and Tasmania suggests it has been present since the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
. It grows in coastal habitats that would be occupied by Banksia integrifolia on the mainland.
Banksia marginata grows on a variety of soil types, from clay loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
s, shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
y loams to sandy or rocky soils composed of quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
, sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
or granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, although sandier soils predominate. It is restricted to sandy soils in the Adelaide region. The soil types are of a wide range of pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
, from highly acidic soils
Soil pH
The soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity in soils. pH is defined as the negative logarithm of the activity of hydrogen ions in solution. It ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH below 7 is acidic and above 7 is basic. Soil pH is considered a master variable in soils as it...
in the Grampians
Grampians National Park
The Grampians National Park is a national park in Victoria, Australia, 235 kilometres west of Melbourne. The Park was listed on the Australian National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern...
to alkaline soils in South Australia. Plants have been recorded at altitudes ranging from sea level to as high as 1200 m (400 ft) AHD
Australian Height Datum
The Australian Height Datum is a geodetic datum for altitude measurement in Australia. According to Geoscience Australia, "In 1971 the mean sea level for 1966-1968 was assigned the value of zero on the Australian Height Datum at thirty tide gauges around the coast of the Australian continent...
at Mount Field National Park
Mount Field National Park
Mount Field National Park is a national park in Tasmania, Australia, 64 km northwest of Hobart. The landscape ranges from eucalyptus temperate rainforest to alpine moorland, rising to 1,434 metres at the summit of Mount Field West....
.
Ecology
Numerous species of birds have been observed foraging and feeding at the flowers; these include Rainbow Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeet
The Rainbow Lorikeet, is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia , Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In Australia, it is common along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland to South Australia and northwest Tasmania...
(Trichoglossus haematodus), Musk Lorikeet
Musk Lorikeet
The Musk Lorikeet is a lorikeet, one of the three species of the Glossopsitta genus. It inhabits south-central/eastern Australia. The Musk Lorikeet was first described by ornithologist George Shaw in 1790 as Psittacus concinnus, from a collection in the vicinity of Port Jackson in what is now...
(Glossopsitta concinna), Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
The Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Glossopsitta porphyrocephala, is a lorikeet found in scrub and mallee of southern Australia...
(G. porphyrocephala), Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cyclopsitta diophthalma), Red Wattlebird
Red Wattlebird
The Red Wattlebird , also known as Barkingbird or Gillbird, is a honeyeater; a group of birds found mainly in Australia and New Guinea which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding...
(Anthochaera carunculata), Little Wattlebird
Little Wattlebird
The Little Wattlebird , also known as the Brush Wattlebird, is a honeyeater, a passerine bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in coastal and sub-coastal south-eastern Australia.-Taxonomy:...
(A. chrysoptera), Yellow Wattlebird
Yellow Wattlebird
The Yellow Wattlebird is a species of bird in the Meliphagidae family.9 Other names include the Long or Tasmanian Wattlebird.2-Description:...
(A. paradoxa), Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
The Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater is the only species in the genus Acanthegenys. It is large, for a honeyeater, ranging from 22 to 27 centimeters and weighing around 52 grams...
(Acanthagenys rufogularis), Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
The Yellow-faced Honeyeater is a medium-small bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. It takes both its common name and scientific name from the distinctive yellow stripes on the sides of its head. It has a loud clear call, and is one the first birds heard in the morning...
(Lichenostomus chrysops), Singing Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
The Singing Honeyeater, Lichenostomus virescens is a small bird found in Australia, and is part of the honeyeater family. Although it is common there, it is not very well known in other places....
(Lichenostomus virescens), White-plumed Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
The White-plumed Honeyeater Lichenostomus penicillatus is a bird native to Australia. It is yellow above and paler beneath, with a black and white line on the sides of its neck. The white neck band of a White-plumed Honeyeater is its most prominent feature, the rest of the feathers being shades of...
(L. penicillatus), Black-chinned Honeyeater
Black-chinned Honeyeater
The Black-chinned Honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the Meliphagidae family. It is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognised. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical dry forests.The Black-chinned Honeyeater was first described by John Gould in 1837...
(Melithreptus gularis), Brown-headed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
The Brown-headed Honeyeater is a species of passerine bird in the Meliphagidae family.It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation....
(M. brevirostris), White-naped Honeyeater
White-naped Honeyeater
The White-naped Honeyeater Melithreptus lunatus is a passerine bird of the Honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to eastern Australia. Birds from southwestern Australia have been shown to be a distinct species, the Western White-naped Honeyeater, and the eastern birds more closely related to the...
(M. lunatus), Crescent Honeyeater
Crescent Honeyeater
The Crescent Honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to south-eastern Australia including Tasmania. A member of the genus Phylidonyris, it is most closely related to the common New Holland Honeyeater and the White-cheeked Honeyeater . Two subspecies are...
(Phylidonyris pyrrhoptera), New Holland Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
The New Holland Honeyeater is a honeyeater species found throughout southern Australia. It was among the first birds to be scientifically described in Australia, and was initially named Certhia novaehollandiae...
(P. novaehollandiae), Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
The Tawny-crowned Honeyeater is a passerine bird native to eastern Australia.The Tawny-crowned Honeyeater was originally described by ornithologist John Latham in 1802 as Certhia melanops...
(Gliciphila melanops), Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Spinebill
The Eastern Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris, is a species of honeyeater found in south-eastern Australia in forest and woodland areas, as well as gardens in urban areas of Sydney and Melbourne...
(Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris), Noisy Miner
Noisy Miner
The Noisy Miner is a bird common to the eastern and southern states of Australia. It ranges from northern Queensland along the eastern coast to South Australia and Tasmania. Its typical diet consists of nectar, fruit and insects, and occasionally it feeds on small reptiles or amphibians...
(Manorina melanocephala), Silvereye
Silvereye
The Silvereye or Wax-eye is a very small passerine bird native to Australia, New Zealand and the south-west Pacific islands of Lord Howe, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Vanuatu, and Fiji...
(Zosterops lateralis) and thornbill
Acanthiza
Acanthiza is a genus of passeriform birds, mostly found in Australia but with one species restricted to New Guinea. These birds are commonly known as thornbills. They are not closely related to species in the hummingbird genus Chalcostigma which are also called thornbills.They are found...
s (Acanthiza species). In addition, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia measuring 55–65 cm in length. It has a short crest on the top of its head. Its plumage is mostly brownish black and it has prominent yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band...
(Calyptorhynchus funereus) feeds on the seed.
The Agile Antechinus
Agile Antechinus
The Agile Antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is found in Australia.-Taxonomy:...
(Antechinus agilis), Bush Rat
Bush Rat
The bush rat is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore. It is one of the most common species of rats and is found in many heathland areas of Victoria and NSW...
(Rattus fuscipes), Feathertail Glider
Feathertail Glider
The Feathertail Glider , also known as the Pygmy Gliding Possum, Pygmy Glider, Pygmy Phalanger, Flying Phalanger and Flying Mouse, is the world's smallest gliding possum and is named for its long feather-shaped tail. Although only the size of a very small mouse , it can leap and glide up to 25 metres...
(Acrobates pygmaeus), and Sugar Glider
Sugar Glider
The sugar glider is a small gliding possum originating from the marsupial family.The sugar glider is native to eastern and northern mainland Australia and is also native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.- Habitat :Sugar gliders can be found all throughout the northern and eastern parts of...
(Petaurus breviceps) have been recorded visiting flower spikes. Both pollen and nectar are consumed by the Southwestern Pygmy Possum
Southwestern Pygmy Possum
The southwestern pygmy possum , commonly known as the western pygmy possum or the mundarda, is a small marsupial found in Australia...
(Cercarteus concinnus). Ants, bees (both native and European honeybees), blowflies and brown butterflies have been recorded as visitors to flower spikes. The wasp Mesostoa kerri of the subfamily Mesostoinae
Mesostoinae
The Mesostoinae, is a subfamily of wasps endemic to Australia.It contains four genera:* Andesipolis* Hydrangeocola* Mesostoa* Proavga...
within the family Braconidae
Braconidae
Braconidae is a family of parasitoid wasps and one of the richest families of insects. Between 50,000 and 150,000 species exist worldwide. The species are grouped into about 45 subfamilies and 1,000 genera, some important ones being: Ademon, Aphanta, Asobara, Bracon hebetor, Cenocoelius, Chaenusa,...
causes stem galls on B. marginata in southeastern South Australia. The galls are either round to a diameter of 3.3 cm (1.3 in), or cigar-shaped to 15 cm (6 in). Their effect on the plant is unclear. B. marginata is a host plant for the larval and adult stages of the buprestid beetle Cyrioides imperialis. Much more pathological is the banksia longicorn beetle (Paroplites australis) which bores holes in the base of banksia plants which then weaken and fall or blow over with wind and die. Several species of fungus have been recorded growing on the foliage, including Acrospermum gaubae, Argopericonia elegans, Asterina systema-solare, Botryosphaeria banksiae, a species of Cladosporium
Cladosporium
Cladosporium is a genus of fungi including some of the most common indoor and outdoor molds. Species produce olive-green to brown or black colonies, and have dark-pigmented conidia that are formed in simple or branching chains....
, Cooksonomyces banksiae, Dimerium banksiae, Episphaerella banksiae, a Periconiella
Periconiella
Periconiella is a genus of ascomycete fungi. It was defined by the Italian mycologist Pier Andrea Saccardo in 1885....
species, Satchmopsis australiensis, Tryssglobulus aspergilloides, and a species of Veronaea
Veronaea
Veronaea is a genus of ascomycete fungi, which manifest as brownish colonies. The genus was defined by R. Ciferri and A. Montemartini in 1958....
.
All banksias have developed proteoid or cluster roots in response to the nutrient-poor conditions of Australian soils (particularly lacking in phosphorus
Phosphorus
Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...
). The root system of the suckering
Basal shoot
A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots. This shoot then becomes, or takes the form of, a singular plant. A plant that produces suckers is referred to as surculose...
forms of Banksia marginata in Victoria and South Australia have a characteristic pattern with a deep tap root, and an extensive system of thick lateral roots 7.5–15 cm (3–6 in) below the surface. During the winter months, segments around 30 cm (1 ft) in length develop vegetative buds capable of forming suckers. Clusters of fine proteoid roots up to 15 cm (6 in) long arise from these lateral roots.
The response of Banksia marginata to fire is variable. In the Gibraltar Range and Sydney regions, plants are killed by fire and regenerate from seed. They are serotinous
Serotiny
Serotiny is an ecological adaptation exhibited by some seed plants, in which seed release occurs in response to an environmental trigger, rather than spontaneously at seed maturation. The most common and best studied trigger is fire, and the term serotiny is often used to refer to this specific case...
, storing their seed in old cones, forming a seedbank in their canopy which is released after bushfire. A field study found that seeds were dispersed short distances (generally 8 m [25 ft] or less), with those closest to the parent plant faring the best. In Little Desert National Park
Little Desert National Park
The Little Desert National Park is in Victoria, Australia, 375 kilometres west of Melbourne. It extends from the Wimmera River in the east to near Naracoorte over the South Australian border in the west.-History:...
in northwestern Victoria and also eastern south Australia, it grows as a low shrub which suckers (shoots growing from lateral roots) after fire. Plants do not appear to live longer than 25 years; after this time the ageing plants begin to die and are succeeded by younger plants arising from suckers around the parent. A field study in Gippsland found counting the nodes of Banksia marginata plants to be accurate in indicating age within a year up to 21 years since the last fire. There is anecodotal evidence of plants reaching 150 years old in this region. Plant species from communities dependent on fire are thought to self-select to be more flammable; Banksia marginata tested from a dry sclerophyll community in southeastern Tasmania was shown to burn readily, and fire would spread easily through it.
Tasmanian forms have been shown to be frost tolerant at any time of year, which might explain some of their success in spreading and growing in different habitats around the island. This attribute might have allowed them to survive cold periods in Tasmania in the Pleistocene.
A trial in Western Australia showed Banksia marginata to be mildly sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
dieback. At Brisbane Ranges National Park
Brisbane Ranges National Park
The Brisbane Ranges National Park is a national park in Anakie, Victoria, Australia, 80 km west of Melbourne. The park is the responsibility of Parks Victoria. The park covers part of the Brisbane Ranges, an area of hills of moderate elevation. The park features a number of walking tracks, of...
west of Melbourne, which was invaded by Phytophthora cinnamomi in the 1970s, Banksia marginata (along with such species as Grevillea steiglitziana
Grevillea steiglitziana
Grevillea steiglitziana, also known as Brisbane Range Grevillea, is a spreading shrub which is endemic to Victoria, Australia. It grows to between 0.7 and 2 metres in height...
) was part of a secondary regrowth of understory species after more resistant shrubs such as grasses and sedges had grown back.
Timber
The red-hued heartwood is coarse-grained and soft. It is sometimes used for turning, but requires careful dryingWood drying
Wood drying reduces the moisture content of wood before its use.There are two main reasons for drying wood:...
before use to avoid warping. A sample was prepared in Victoria in 1885 as part of a collection of local timber species under the direction of Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
. The collection was displayed in various exhibitions, including the Exposition Universelle
Exposition Universelle (1889)
The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...
in Paris in 1889, and is housed at the Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
.
Cultivation
| Cultivars 'Mini Marg' (left) and 'Mallacoota Dwarf' (right) | |
Banksia marginata was first introduced into cultivation in England in 1802 (and was also listed as B. australis, B. insularis and B. marcescens); it was grown at Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
, Cambridge Botanic Gardens
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England. It lies between Trumpington Road to the west and Hills Road to the east, close to Cambridge railway station. The garden covers an area of 16 hectares...
, Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
and private gardens in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
and Haringay House. One specimen grown in a glasshouse at Kew was described as a tree 24 feet (7 m) high with a trunk girth of two feet (60 cm) at 40 years of age.
B. marginata is generally fairly easy to grow in a well-drained sunny or part-shaded position in the garden. It can be leggy in shadier positions, or a more compact bushy shrub in full sun. Some varieties from drier areas seem to do poorly in areas of summer humidity. The flowers are not prominent unless they are numerous. Established plants can withstand drought, coastal exposure and temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F). Propagation
Plant propagation
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
of plants can be by seed or cuttings; the latter is essential if trying to replicate plants of particular habit (such as dwarf specimens). Some Banksia marginata seed of subalpine provenance require stratification
Stratification (botany)
In horticulture, stratification is the process of pretreating seeds to simulate natural winter conditions that a seed must endure before germination. Many seed species undergo an embryonic dormancy phase, and generally will not sprout until this dormancy is broken...
, namely keeping at 5 °C (41 °F) for 60 days before germination takes place over 6 to 25 days. Salkin proposed this was necessary so that seed released in a summer or autumn bushfire would lie dormant over the winter months before germinating in the spring. Banksia saxicola and Banksia canei seed also share this trait.
Some dwarf forms have been commercially available in Australian nurseries, although some selections do not maintain their dwarf status in cultivation. Banksia 'Mini Marg' is a small form selected from the northeastern coast of Tasmania which reaches 30 cm (12 in) high and 1 m (3 ft) wide. 'Mallacoota Dwarf' was selected from a natural population at Mallacoota, Victoria
Mallacoota, Victoria
-External links:***...
. Alf Salkin reported a form from Kanangra Walls
Kanangra-Boyd National Park
Kanangra-Boyd is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 100 km west of Sydney. It lies to the southwest of and is contiguous with the Blue Mountains National Park, and is part of the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site ....
with a peach-tinged limb as having horticultural potential, as well as a prostrate
Prostrate shrub
A prostrate shrub is a woody plant, most of the branches of which lie upon or just under the ground, rather than being held erect as are the branches of most trees and shrubs....
form from Cape Liptrap
Cape Liptrap
Cape Liptrap coastal park is located in south Gippsland, Victoria and is a peninsula that is the extension of the Hoddle Range that runs out to sea....
in Victoria. Banksia marginata, and the dwarf cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
'Mini Marg', have also been used in bonsai
Bonsai
is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
.