Banksia sessilis var. flabellifolia is a variety of Banksia sessilis (Parrot Bush).

Description

It grows as a shrub up to five metres high. Unlike other varieties of B. sessilis, it has hairless stems. The leaves are fan shaped, with a long, toothless lower margin, and a toothed end. As such its leaves are quite similar to some of those of B. sessilis var. cygnorum

Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum

Banksia sessilis var. cygnorum is a variety of Banksia sessilis .-Description:It grows as a shrub up to five metres high, with a down of fine hairs on the stems. This variety is has the smallest leaves of any B. sessilis variety, being no more than three centimetres long, and less than two...

, but are larger, being up to four centimetres long and 3.5 centimetres wide. They also lack lobes at the base. As with other varieties of B. sessilis, the flowers are greenish-yellow. Each head contains around 90 flowers.

Taxonomy

This variety was first published by Alex George

Alex George

Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...

 in 1996, based on a specimen he collected on 11 August 1993 on West Binnu Road, 4.4 kilometres east of Yeringa South Road, north-north-west of Northampton, Western Australia

Northampton, Western Australia

Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 813. It is historic, with an outstanding National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Formerly named Gwalla after the location's...

. The varietal epithet is from 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...

 flabellum ("fan") and folium ("leaf"), and refers to the fan-shaped leaves characteristic of this variety. The name given at the time was Dryandra sessilis var. flabellifolia, and this stood until 2007, when 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 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...

 transferred Dryandra

Dryandra

Banksia ser. Dryandra is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It was considered a separate genus named Dryandra until early 2007, when it was merged into Banksia on the basis of extensive molecular and morphological evidence that Banksia was paraphyletic with...

 into 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...

; thus the variety's current full name is Banksia sessilis var. flabellifolia (A.S.George) A.R.Mast & K.R.Thiele.

In 1999, George placed it between B. sessilis var. sessilis

Banksia sessilis var. sessilis

Banksia sessilis var. sessilis is the most populous and most widespread variety of Banksia sessilis .-Description:The leaves of this variety are larger than those of B. sessilis var. cygnorum but smaller than those of B. sessilis var. cordata. It differs from B. sessilis var...

 and B. sessilis var. cordata

Banksia sessilis var. cordata

Banksia sessilis var. cordata is a variety of Banksia sessilis , with unusually large leaves and flower heads. It is a rare variety that is restricted to the extreme south-west corner of Western Australia.-Description:...

 in phyletic order.

Distribution and habitat

B. sessilis var. flabellifolia grows in both deep sand and on laterite

Laterite

Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...

, between Geraldton

Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...

 and Kalbarri

Kalbarri, Western Australia

Kalbarri is a coastal town in the Mid West region located 592 km north of Perth, Western Australia. The town is found at the mouth of the Murchison River and has an elevation of...

 inland to Northampton

Northampton, Western Australia

Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 813. It is historic, with an outstanding National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Formerly named Gwalla after the location's...

 and south as far as Moora

Moora, Western Australia

Moora is a townsite located 177 km north of Perth in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Moora was one of the original stations on the Midland railway line to Walkaway, and the townsite was gazetted in 1895...

, in the South West Botanical Province of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

Cultivation

This variety is little known in cultivation. It is suggested that cultivation requirements would be similar to the better-known B. sessilis var. sessilis, but that this variety would be better suited to hotter, drier coastal areas.