Banksia trifontinalis, commonly known as Three Springs Dryandra, is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 endemic to 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...

.

Description

It grows as an openly branched shrub, and can reach up to two metres high. It has long, narrow, serrated leaves, and a yellow inflorescence.

Taxonomy

The type specimen was collected west of Three Springs, Western Australia

Three Springs, Western Australia

Three Springs is located 313 km north of Perth, Western Australia on the Midlands Road. Wheat farming is the main industry.The first Europeans to pass through the Three Springs area were Lieutenant George Grey and his party in 1839. The next exploration of the area in 1846 was undertaken by...

 by Alex George

Alex George

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

 on 6 August 1986. George published a description of the species in 1996, naming it Dryandra trifontinalis. The specific 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...

 tri- ("three") and fontinalis ("of a spring"), in reference to the town of Three Springs.

In 2007, all Dryandra species were transferred to 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...

 by 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...

. Hence the current full name of the species is Banksia trifontinalis (A.S.George) A.R.Mast & K.R.Thiele.

Distribution

It occurs only in a few populations in the vicinity of Arrino

Arrino, Western Australia

Arrino is a small town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The town is located between Mingenew and Three Springs on the Midlands Road....

 and Three Springs in the Geraldton Sandplains

Geraldton Sandplains

Geraldton Sandplains is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region in Western Australia and part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion.It has two sub regions: -* Geraldton Hills sub region* Lesuer sub region...

 biogeographic region. It is locally common, and grows on lateritic soil amongst low woodland.

Ecology

It is classified as Priority Three: Poorly Known Taxa on the Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List.