Banksia victoriae
Encyclopedia
Banksia victoriae, commonly known as Woolly Orange Banksia, is a species of large shrub or small tree in the plant
genus
Banksia
. It occurs in Western Australia
between Northampton, Western Australia
and Kalbarri
, with the occasional plant further north as far as Zuytdorp Nature Reserve.
, but older plants sometimes attain a tree
habit, growing as high as seven metres. It has smooth grey back and densely hairy stems. Leaves are 15–30 centimetres long and 2.5‐4 centimetres wide, with deep triangular lobes and woolly surfaces. Flowers occur in typical Banksia "flower spikes", inflorescence
s made up of hundreds of pairs of flowers densely packed in a spiral
about a woody axis. B. victoriae's inflorescence is orange, seven to twelve centimetres long. After flowering, up to 30 follicles
develop in the flower spike. These are usually concealed by withered flower parts, which persist on the spike for a long time.
The first known specimens of B. victoriae may have been seeds sent to England
in the early 1830s. These seeds were distributed to a number of gardens, and by 1835 three gardens had successfully raised plants to flowering: the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
, the garden of George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland
, and that of Henry Berens of Sidcup
. In that year, the second of these was painted by Sarah Drake
, and included as Plate 1728 in Edwards's Botanical Register. In the accompanying text, John Lindley
identified the plant as B. speciosa
(Showy Banksia), but commented "We found neither the whiteness of the under side of the leaves, nor the faintness of the veins, which are supposed to be characteristic of the species". Doubts were raised about the identity of the species in 1857, when Walter Hood Fitch
painted B. victoriae based on a cut flower provided by David Moore of Glasnevin Botanical Garden. Fitch's painting appeared as Plate 4906 in Volume 82 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine
, and was accompanied by the text: "There can, I think, be no doubt of its being the same with the B. speciosa above quoted in the Bot. Reg., but not the B. speciosa of Br. and Hook., Bot. Mag. t. 3052; and equally certain does it appear to be the B. Victoriæ of Meisner." Thus it was implied that 1835 plate was in fact B. victoriae, a suggestion that was supported by George Bentham
in his treatment of the species in his 1870 Flora Australiensis
.
Despite this possible early collection, it would not be until 1850 or 1851 that James Drummond
collected the plant material upon which would be based the formal publication of B. victoriae. He collected the species only once, probably from near the Hutt River
, and his material was sent to England as part of Drummond's sixth collection. In 1855 Carl Meissner
published a formal description of the species in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Gardens Miscellany, referring to it as "a noble species, very near B. speciosa, but easily distinguished by the segments of the leaves being larger, flat, not white underneath, nor scrobiculate above, etc.". He named it in honour of Queen Victoria
; thus the full name for the species is Banksia victoriae Meisn. He appears to have been unaware of the 1835 plate that would later be attributed to B. victoriae.
for A. P. de Candolle
's Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis
. Under Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
, B. victoriae was placed in section Eubanksia, series Dryandroideae. This arrangement stood until 1870, which George Bentham
published his arrangement
, in which he placed the species in section Orthostylis. A major disruption to Banksia's taxonomic nomenclature occurred in 1890, when Otto Kuntze
challenged Banksia L.f.
on the grounds that Banksia J.R.Forst
& G.Forst
had precedence. He proposed to transfer all Banksia species to the new genus Sirmuellera, but this was rejected, and Sirmuellera victoriae (Meisn.) Kuntze is now considered a nomenclatural synonym of B. victoriae.
Bentham's arrangement stood for over a century, before being superseded by Alex George
's revision, published in his 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
. George placed the species in Banksia subgenus Banksia
, section Banksia
, series Crocinae
. This placement was rejected by Kevin Thiele
and Pauline Ladiges in 1996; their arrangement
, which was based on a cladistic analysis of morphological features, discarded Crocinae altogether, instead placing B. victoriae in series Banksia
, subseries Cratistylis
, alongside B. burdettii
(Burdett's Banksia). However, George did not accept this revision, and overturned it in his 1999 monograph for the Flora of Australia
series.
Under George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
, B. victoriae placement may be summarised as follows:
Subgenus Isostylis
Since 1998, Austin Mast
has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence
data for the subtribe Banksiinae, which comprises Banksia and Dryandra
. Mast's analysis strongly supports Thiele's placement of B. victoriae, finding it to fall within a clade
with B. menziesii
(Menzies' Banksia), B. burdettii, B. hookeriana
(Hooker's Banksia) and B. prionotes
(Acorn Banksia), all of which are members of Thiele and Ladiges' Cratistylis. Overall, the inferred phylogeny is very greatly different from George's arrangement, and provides compelling evidence for the paraphyly
of Banksia with respect to Dryandra. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by transferring Dryandra into it, and publishing B. subg. Spathulatae
for the species having spoon-shaped cotyledon
s; thus they also redefined the autonym B. subg. Banksia as containing the species not having 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. victoriae is placed in B. subg. Banksia.
B. victoriae occurs only within a fairly small areas between Northampton and the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Under Version 5.1 of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia
(IBRA), this distribution fell entirely without the Geraldton Sandplains
biogeographic
region. However the boundary between the Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo
biogeographic regions has been substantially redrawn for IBRA Version 6.1, and it is not clear from publicly available data whether the species should now be considered to occur also in the Yalgoo region.
The species grows in deep yellow or pale red sand, amongst tall shrubland. It was previously thought to occur only twenty to thirty kilometres from the coast, but during The Banksia Atlas
project, a few specimens were found within just a few kilometres of the coast. Although restricted to a small area, it is quite common within this area, and is sometimes dominates the vegetation.
, B. victoriae has proteoid root
s, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in low-nutrient soils such as the phosphorus
-deficient native soils of Australia.
The species lacks a lignotuber
, so plants are killed by bushfire. However, it is adapted to release its aerial seed bank following a bushfire, and so regenerates rapidly. This behaviour, known as serotiny
, makes B. victoriae dependent upon a suitable fire regime for successful regeneration. Other threats to the species include susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi
dieback, and the loss of flowers due to harvesting for the cut flower trade. However, it is not currently considered endangered, partly because a significant proportion of the population occur within the Kalbarri National Park
; it has not been given a rating under Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List.
It is also very popular for cut flower production, not just because of its attractive foliage and flower spikes, but also because flower spikes occur terminally on a branch, allowing flowers to be cut with a stem.
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
genus
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...
. It occurs in 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...
between 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...
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...
, with the occasional plant further north as far as Zuytdorp Nature Reserve.
Description
B. victoriae generally grows as a tall shrubShrub
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...
, but older plants sometimes attain a tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
habit, growing as high as seven metres. It has smooth grey back and densely hairy stems. Leaves are 15–30 centimetres long and 2.5‐4 centimetres wide, with deep triangular lobes and woolly surfaces. Flowers occur in typical Banksia "flower spikes", 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 made up of hundreds of pairs of flowers densely packed in a spiral
Helix
A helix is a type of smooth space curve, i.e. a curve in three-dimensional space. It has the property that the tangent line at any point makes a constant angle with a fixed line called the axis. Examples of helixes are coil springs and the handrails of spiral staircases. A "filled-in" helix – for...
about a woody axis. B. victoriae's inflorescence is orange, seven to twelve centimetres long. After flowering, up to 30 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....
develop in the flower spike. These are usually concealed by withered flower parts, which persist on the spike for a long time.
Discovery and naming
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the early 1830s. These seeds were distributed to a number of gardens, and by 1835 three gardens had successfully raised plants to flowering: the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Originally founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies four sites across Scotland — Edinburgh,...
, the garden of George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland
George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland
George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland PC , styled Lord Lovaine between 1790 and 1830 and known as The Earl of Beverley between 1830 and 1865, was a British Tory politician. He served as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard under Sir Robert Peel between 1842 and 1846...
, and that of Henry Berens of Sidcup
Sidcup
Sidcup is a district in South East London in the London Borough of Bexley and small parts of the district in the London Borough of Greenwich.Located south east of Charing Cross, Sidcup is bordered by the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bromley and Kent County Council, and whilst now part of...
. In that year, the second of these was painted by Sarah Drake
Sarah Drake
Sarah Ann Drake was an English botanical illustrator.Born in 1803, she came from the same area of Norfolk as John Lindley, and in 1830 moved into the Lindley home in London...
, and included as Plate 1728 in Edwards's Botanical Register. In the accompanying text, John Lindley
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
identified the plant as B. speciosa
Banksia speciosa
The Showy Banksia is a species of large shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It reaches up to 8 m in height...
(Showy Banksia), but commented "We found neither the whiteness of the under side of the leaves, nor the faintness of the veins, which are supposed to be characteristic of the species". Doubts were raised about the identity of the species in 1857, when Walter Hood Fitch
Walter Hood Fitch
Walter Hood Fitch was a botanical illustrator, born in Glasgow, Scotland, who executed some 10,000 drawings for various publications...
painted B. victoriae based on a cut flower provided by David Moore of Glasnevin Botanical Garden. Fitch's painting appeared as Plate 4906 in Volume 82 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine
Curtis's Botanical Magazine
The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed, is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name Curtis's Botanical Magazine....
, and was accompanied by the text: "There can, I think, be no doubt of its being the same with the B. speciosa above quoted in the Bot. Reg., but not the B. speciosa of Br. and Hook., Bot. Mag. t. 3052; and equally certain does it appear to be the B. Victoriæ of Meisner." Thus it was implied that 1835 plate was in fact B. victoriae, a suggestion that was supported 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 his treatment of the species in his 1870 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...
.
Despite this possible early collection, it would not be until 1850 or 1851 that James Drummond
James Drummond (botanist)
James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...
collected the plant material upon which would be based the formal publication of B. victoriae. He collected the species only once, probably from near the Hutt River
Hutt River (Western Australia)
Hutt River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia.The river rises near the North West Coastal Highway between the towns of Northampton and Binnu and east of Hutt...
, and his material was sent to England as part of Drummond's sixth collection. In 1855 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 a formal description of the species in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Gardens Miscellany, referring to it as "a noble species, very near B. speciosa, but easily distinguished by the segments of the leaves being larger, flat, not white underneath, nor scrobiculate above, etc.". He named it in honour of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
; thus the full name for the species is Banksia victoriae Meisn. He appears to have been unaware of the 1835 plate that would later be attributed to B. victoriae.
Infrageneric placement
Although Meissner did not proffer an infrageneric placement for B. victoriae in his 1855 publication of the species, he did so the following year in his chapter on the ProteaceaeProteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
for A. P. de Candolle
A. P. de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium...
's Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, also known by its standard botanical abbreviation Prodr. , is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by A. P. de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summary of all known seed plants, encompassing taxonomy, ecology, evolution and biogeography....
. Under Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
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...
, B. victoriae was placed in section Eubanksia, series Dryandroideae. This arrangement stood until 1870, which 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 his 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...
, in which he placed the species in section Orthostylis. A major disruption to Banksia's taxonomic nomenclature occurred in 1890, when Otto Kuntze
Otto Kuntze
Otto Carl Ernst Kuntze was a German botanist.-Biography:Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig.An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled Pocket Fauna of Leipzig. Between 1863 and...
challenged Banksia L.f.
Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus the Younger was a Swedish naturalist...
on the grounds that Banksia J.R.Forst
Johann Reinhold Forster
Johann Reinhold Forster was a German Lutheran pastor and naturalist of partial Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America...
& G.Forst
Georg Forster
Johann Georg Adam Forster was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist, and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father on several scientific expeditions, including James Cook's second voyage to the Pacific...
had precedence. He proposed to transfer all Banksia species to the new genus Sirmuellera, but this was rejected, and Sirmuellera victoriae (Meisn.) Kuntze is now considered a nomenclatural synonym of B. victoriae.
Bentham's arrangement stood for over a century, before being superseded by Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
's revision, published in his 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
The genus Banksia L.f. is a 1981 monograph by Alex George on the taxonomy of the plant genus Banksia. Published by the Western Australian Herbarium as Nuytsia 3, it presented George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, the first major taxonomic revision of the genus since George Bentham published...
. George placed the species in Banksia subgenus 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...
, section 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...
, series Crocinae
Banksia ser. Crocinae
Banksia 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...
. This placement was rejected by 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...
and Pauline Ladiges in 1996; their arrangement
Thiele and Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, published in 1996, was a novel taxonomic arrangement that was intended to align the taxonomy of Banksia more closely with the phylogeny that they had inferred from their cladistic analysis of the genus...
, which was based on a cladistic analysis of morphological features, discarded Crocinae altogether, instead placing B. victoriae in series Banksia
Banksia ser. Banksia
Banksia 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...
, subseries Cratistylis
Banksia subser. Cratistylis
Banksia subser. Cratistylis is a valid botanic name for a subseries of Banksia. It was first published by Kevin Thiele in 1996, but discarded by Alex George in 1999.-Cladistics:...
, alongside B. burdettii
Banksia burdettii
Burdett's Banksia is a species of large shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on sandplain country north of Gingin, Western Australia....
(Burdett's Banksia). However, George did not accept this revision, and overturned it in his 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...
series.
Under George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Alex George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was the first modern-day arrangement for that genus. First published in 1981 in the classic monograph The genus Banksia L.f. , it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years. It was overturned in 1996 by Kevin...
, B. victoriae placement may be summarised as follows:
- 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...
Banksia 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 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. 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:... - Series GrandesBanksia 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...
- B. prionotesBanksia prionotesBanksia prionotes, commonly known as Acorn Banksia or Orange Banksia, is a species of shrub or tree of the genus Banksia in the family Proteaceae. It is native to the southwest of Western Australia and can reach up to 10 m in height. It can be much smaller in more exposed areas or in the...
- B. burdettiiBanksia burdettiiBurdett's Banksia is a species of large shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on sandplain country north of Gingin, Western Australia....
- B. hookerianaBanksia hookerianaThe Hooker's Banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on sandplain shrubland between Arrowsmith and Eneabba in Western Australia. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 23 to 49 days to germinate....
- B. victoriae
- B. prionotes
- 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:...
- Section Banksia
- Section Coccinea
- 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...
Banksia subg. Isostylis
Banksia subg. Isostylis is a subgenus of Banksia. It contains three closely related species, all of which occur only in Southwest Western Australia. Members of subgenus Isostylis have dome-shaped flower heads that are superficially similar to those of B. ser...
Since 1998, 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...
has 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, which comprises Banksia and 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...
. Mast's analysis strongly supports Thiele's placement of B. victoriae, finding it to fall within a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
with B. menziesii
Banksia menziesii
Banksia menziesii, commonly known as firewood banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Banksia. It is a gnarled tree up to 10 m tall, or a lower spreading 1–3 m shrub in the more northern parts of its range. The serrated leaves are dull green with new growth a paler grey...
(Menzies' Banksia), B. burdettii, B. hookeriana
Banksia hookeriana
The Hooker's Banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on sandplain shrubland between Arrowsmith and Eneabba in Western Australia. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 23 to 49 days to germinate....
(Hooker's Banksia) and B. prionotes
Banksia prionotes
Banksia prionotes, commonly known as Acorn Banksia or Orange Banksia, is a species of shrub or tree of the genus Banksia in the family Proteaceae. It is native to the southwest of Western Australia and can reach up to 10 m in height. It can be much smaller in more exposed areas or in the...
(Acorn Banksia), all of which are members of Thiele and Ladiges' Cratistylis. Overall, the inferred phylogeny is very greatly different from George's arrangement, and provides compelling evidence for the paraphyly
Paraphyly
A group of taxa is said to be paraphyletic if the group consists of all the descendants of a hypothetical closest common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups of descendants...
of Banksia with respect to Dryandra. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by transferring Dryandra into it, and publishing 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 species having spoon-shaped 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...
s; thus they also redefined the autonym B. subg. Banksia as containing the species not having 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. victoriae is placed in B. subg. Banksia.
Distribution and habitat
Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia
The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian Government's Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts...
(IBRA), this distribution fell entirely without 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
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
region. However the boundary between the Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo
Yalgoo (biogeographic region)
Yalgoo is an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia region in Western Australia and part of the larger Southwest Australia savanna ecoregion.In the IBRA system it has the code of , and it has two sub-regions:...
biogeographic regions has been substantially redrawn for IBRA Version 6.1, and it is not clear from publicly available data whether the species should now be considered to occur also in the Yalgoo region.
The species grows in deep yellow or pale red sand, amongst tall shrubland. It was previously thought to occur only twenty to thirty kilometres from the coast, but 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 few specimens were found within just a few kilometres of the coast. Although restricted to a small area, it is quite common within this area, and is sometimes dominates the vegetation.
Ecology
Like most other ProteaceaeProteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
, B. victoriae has proteoid root
Proteoid root
Proteoid roots, also known as cluster roots, are plant roots that form clusters of closely spaced short lateral rootlets. They may form a two to five centimetre thick mat just beneath the leaf litter. They enhance nutrient uptake, possibly by chemically modifying the soil environment to improve...
s, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in low-nutrient soils such as the 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...
-deficient native soils of Australia.
The species lacks a 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...
, so plants are killed by bushfire. However, it is adapted to release its aerial seed bank following a bushfire, and so regenerates rapidly. This behaviour, known as serotiny
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...
, makes B. victoriae dependent upon a suitable fire regime for successful regeneration. Other threats to the species include susceptibility 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, and the loss of flowers due to harvesting for the cut flower trade. However, it is not currently considered endangered, partly because a significant proportion of the population occur within the Kalbarri National Park
Kalbarri National Park
Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly 80 kilometres on the lower reaches of the Murchison River...
; it has not been given a rating under Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List.
Cultivation
With attractive deep green foliage and large, brightly coloured flower species that are held outside the canopy, B. victoriae is a popular garden plant. It requires a sunny aspect in well drained soil, and is sensitive to frost. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 27 to 41 days to germinate. It is easy to propagate from seed, but rather difficult from cuttings. It grows quickly, and flowers in three to four years from seed. George recommends only light pruning, not below the green foliage.It is also very popular for cut flower production, not just because of its attractive foliage and flower spikes, but also because flower spikes occur terminally on a branch, allowing flowers to be cut with a stem.