''Banksia viscida'', commonly known as sticky dryandra, is a small

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

known only from four laterite hills in semi-arid inland Western Australia. Known until recently as ''Dryandra viscida'', it is thought to be rare but not threatened.

Description

''Banksia viscida'' grows as a small, dense, rounded shrub no more than high. Its leaves are long and wide; they are pinnatifid, with 25 to 75 triangular lobes on each side. Flowers are golden yellow, and occur in dome-shaped heads of 40 to 55 flowers, up to across. After flowering, the heads may develop up to several follicles each, which contain two or sometimes one seed.

Taxonomy

Early collections of this species include specimens collected from South Ironcap by Keith Alcock and

John Stanley Beard John Stanley Beard (15 February 1916 – 17 February 2011) was a British-born forester and ecologist who resided in Australia. Beard studied at the University of Oxford where he completed his doctoral thesis on tropical forestry. While working ...

, and specimens collected from west of Digger Rocks by

Stephen Hopper Stephen Donald Hopper AC FLS FTSE (born 18 June 1951) is a Western Australian botanist. He graduated in Biology, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his n ...

. The type specimen was collected by

Alex George Alexander or Alex George may refer to: *Alex George (botanist) (born 1939), Australian botanist * Alexander L. George (1920–2006), American political scientist * Alexander George (philosopher), American philosopher *Alex George (motorcyclist), Sc ...

from

Hatter Hill Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

on 30 July 1969. For some time prior to formal publication it was recognised as a new species, and was referred to by the interim name ''Dryandra'' sp. 16 (A.S.George 9446). George published a formal description of the species in 1996 in '' Nuytsia'' 10(3). He placed it in the genus ''

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 extensiv ...

'', subgenus ''Dryandra'', series ''Gymnocephalae'', and gave it the specific epithet "viscida" from the Latin ''viscidus'' ("sticky"), in reference to its sticky

involucral bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. Thus its full name was, for a time, ''Dryandra viscida'' A.S.George. Early in 2007, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all ''Dryandra'' taxa to ''Banksia''. The current name for this species is therefore ''Banksia viscida'' (A.S.George) A.R.Mast & K.R.Thiele. As an interim measure, Mast and Thiele placed all but one ''Dryandra'' taxon in ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra''.

Distribution and habitat

''Banksia viscida'' is known only from four

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

rises on the border of the Coolgardie and Mallee biogeographic regions; these are Digger Rocks, Middle Ironcap, South Ironcap and

. It occurs there in gravelly soil amongst thick scrub. The area is hot and dry, with mean annual rainfall of , and up to 90 days above .

Ecology

Like most other

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

, ''B. viscida'' has proteoid roots, 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. It lacks a lignotuber, so is killed by bushfire. However it is adapted to release its seed following a fire, so populations regenerate rapidly. It has been given a rating of "Priority Three - Poorly Known Taxa" on Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List, meaning that it appears to be rare but not threatened, but further surveys are required.

Cultivation

The species is little known in cultivation. It germinates well, but is difficult to establish and slow to grow. It has been grown successfully in loamy soil in northern Victoria, but attempts to grow it in the sandy soils of Perth have failed. Tony Cavanagh and

Margaret Pieroni Margaret Pieroni is a Western Australian botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also ha ...

suggest that as a compact shrub with attractive foliage it would be best suited to a small garden. It requires warm, dry weather with near full sun, and heavy well drained soils. It is hardy to drought and frost.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4856762 viscida Eudicots of Western Australia