holidays with Flora

 

 

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. Iconic Australian wildflower and popular garden plants, they are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and can vary from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres tall. They are generally found in a wide variety of landscapes; sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in Australia's deserts.

Heavy producers of nectar, banksias form a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food source for all sorts of nectariferous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums and a host of invertebrates. Furthermore, they are of economic importance to Australia's nursery and cut flower industries. However these plants are threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are rare and endangered.

 

 

 

Banksia Flowers and Fruits

The flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together in pairs. The colour of the flower heads usually ranges from yellow to red. Many species flower over autumn and winter.
The fruits of banksias (called follicles) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not ­ true cones are produced only by conifers).
The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out.

 

 

Banksia integrifolia var. integrifolia - Coast Banksia

This hardy Banksia grows very well in coastal areas and can tolerate salt spray. Plants may grow to 25 m, but are often smaller. The dark green leaves have a silvery underside, which adds to the beauty of the foliage. The pale yellow flowers open from late summer to winter. Plants are frost tolerant.

 

 

Perhaps the best known cultural reference to Banksia is the "big bad Banksia men" of May Gibbs' children's book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Gibb's "Banksia men" are modelled on the appearance of aged Banksia "cones", with follicles for eyes and other facial features. There is some contention over which species actually provided the inspiration for the "Banksia men": the drawings most resemble the old cones of B. aemula, but B. attenuata (Slender Banksia) has also been cited, as this was the species that Gibbs saw as a child in Western Australia