''Banksia gardneri'', commonly known as prostrate banksia, is a species of prostrate shrub that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Western Australia. It has pinnatipartite or serrated leaves, usually rusty brown flowers, and up to twenty-five elliptical follicles in each fruiting head. It occurs along the west part of the south coast of the state.

Description

''Banksia gardneri'' is a prostrate shrub that forms a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

and has hairy stems that usually lie on the surface. Its leaves are pinnatipartite or serrated, long and wide on a petiole long, the lobes on the sides triangular to oblong. The flowers are borne on a head long and wide when the flowers open, with hairy involucral bracts long at the base of the head. The flowers are usually rusty brown with a cream-coloured

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

. The

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

is long and the

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

long. Flowering occurs from April to November and up to twenty-five densely hairy, elliptical follicles long, high and wide form in each head.

Taxonomy and naming

Prostrate banksia was first formally described in 1830 by Robert Brown who gave it the name ''Banksia prostrata'', but the name was illegitimate because it was already in use (''Banksia prostrata'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) for a New Zealand endemic now known as ''

Pimelea prostrata ''Pimelea prostrata'', commonly known as Strathmore weed, New Zealand Daphne, and Pinatoro (Māori) is a species of small shrub, of the family Thymelaeaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and has small white flowers and blue green leaves. Desc ...

'' (J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.) Lam. In 1981, Alex George described the species in the journal ''

Nuytsia ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

'', giving it the name ''Banksia gardneri''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

honours Charles Gardner, the Government Botanist of Western Australia from 1929 to 1960. In the same journal, George described three varieties and the names are accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...

: * ''Banksia gardneri'' var. ''brevidentata'' that has serrated leaves; * ''Banksia gardneri'' var. ''gardneri'' that has pinnatipartite leaves and rusty brown flowers mainly in spring; * ''Banksia gardneri'' var. ''hiemalis'' that has pinnatipartite leaves and pale pink and pale brown flowers, mainly in winter.

Distribution and habitat

''Banksia gardneri'' grows in shrubland, low woodland and

kwongan Kwongan is plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibbelmun (Noongar) Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as ...

, mainly between Cranbrook,

Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, abo ...

and the south coast of Western Australia.

Conservation status

This banksia is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

. Image:Banksia gardneri blackstyles email.jpg, Flowers with unusual black styles near Albany Image:Banksia gardneri 02 gnangarra.jpg, Unopened flowers

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q947839 gardneri Eudicots of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia Plants described in 1981 Taxa named by Alex George