''Banksia incana'', commonly known as the hoary banksia, is a species of 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 the south-west of Western Australia. It has hairy stems, narrow linear leaves, heads of bright yellow flowers and later, up to thirty-six follicles covered with greyish hairs in each head.
Description
''Banksia incana'' grows as a shrub, typically high and wide with many stems arising from a woody
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 ...
. The stems are covered woolly, greyish hairs. The leaves are narrow linear, long and wide on petiole long and with a sharp point on the tip. The flowers are borne on a spherical head in diameter. The flowers are bright yellow, sometimes reddish, 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 ...
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 and hooked. Flowering occurs from November to April and up to thirty-six prominent, egg-shaped follicles, long, high and wide form in each head, the old flowers having fallen. The follicles are covered with short, greyish hairs.
Taxonomy
Carl Meissner
Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist.
Biography
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 ...
noted the hoary banksia as a distinct form of ''
Banksia sphaerocarpa
''Banksia sphaerocarpa'', commonly known as the fox banksia or round-fruit banksia, is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus ''Banksia'' (family Proteaceae). It is generally encountered as a high shrub, and is usually smaller in the nor ...
'' and in 1856 gave it the name ''Banksia sphaerocarpa'' var. ''glabrescens'' in de Candolle's ''
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis
''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' (1824–1873), also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Prodr. (DC.)'', is a 17-volume treatise on botany initiated by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. De Candolle intended it as a summa ...
Moore River Native Settlement
The Moore River Native Settlement was the name of the now defunct Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal settlement and internment camp located north of Perth and west of Mogumber, Western Australia, Mogumber in Western Australia, near the Source ...
, on 2 February 1967. He placed it in subgenus ''Banksia'' because of its flower spike, in '' section Oncostylis'' because its styles are hooked and in the resurrected series ''Abietinae'', which he constrained to contain only round-fruited species. 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 ...
Both varieties of ''B. incana'' are 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 ...
.
Use in horticulture
Seeds do not require any treatment, and take around 14 days to
germinate
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...
.
Notes
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4856629
incana
The Socotra warbler (''Incana incana'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Incana''. It is endemic to Socotra. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or trop ...