Banksia Littoralis

''Banksia littoralis'', commonly known as the swamp banksia, swamp oak, river banksia or seaside banksia and the western swamp banksia, is a species of tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as pungura, boongura or gwangia. It has rough, crumbly bark, linear, more or less serrated leaves arranged in whorls, yellow flowers and up to two hundred follicles in each head.

Description

''Banksia littoralis'' is a tree that typically grows up to around , sometimes to , with rough, crumbly bark and woolly-hairy stems. The leaves are arranged in whorls and are linear in shape, usually serrated in the upper half, long and wide on a petiole long. The flowers are arranged on a cylindrical head long and wide when the flowers open. The flowers are yellow with a perianth long and a hooked pistil long. Flowering occurs from March to July and the follicles are broadly linear to narrow elliptical, long, high and wide, the old flowers having fallen. There are sometimes up to two hundred follicles in each head.

Taxonomy and naming

''Banksia littoralis'' was first formally described by Robert Brown in ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'' from specimens he collected from around the shores of King George Sound, "especially of Princess Royal Harbour" in December 1801.

In 1891, Otto Kuntze, in his ''Revisio Generum Plantarum'', rejected the generic name ''Banksia'' L.f., on the grounds that the name ''Banksia'' had previously been published in 1776 as ''Banksia'' J.R.Forst & G.Forst, referring to the genus now known as ''Pimelea''. Kuntze proposed ''Sirmuellera'' as an alternative, referring to this species as ''Sirmuellera littoralis''. This application of the principle of priority was largely ignored by Kuntze's contemporaries, and ''Banksia'' L.f. was formally conserved and ''Sirmuellera'' rejected in 1940.

''Banksia littoralis'' appears most closely related to the other species of the series ''Spicigerae'' such as '' B. seminuda'' and '' B. occidentalis'' and is also quite closely related to '' B. verticillata'' a smaller shrub with much thicker leaves.

Distribution and habitat

Swamp banksia to coastal areas of south western Western Australia from the Wheatbelt, Peel, South West and Great Southern regions where it is often situated on along creeks and rivers, in low-lying, seasonally damp areas like swamps and depressions where it grows well in high moisture peaty to sandy soils. It is often part of low woodland communities and often is associated with ''Melaleuca preissiana'' and also in ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'' forest communities and is rarely found as a part of low coastal kwongan communities. The range extends from around Mount Lesueur in the north to around Cape Leeuwin in the south west extending east to around Two Peoples Bay and the Stirling Range.

Ecology

Response to fire

This banksia releases its seeds from the follicles as they mature and the plant responds to fire by resprouting from epicormic buds.

Use in horticulture

''Banksia littoralis'' is relatively easy to grow. It is possibly not as sensitive to dieback as other western banksias. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 20 to 36 days to germinate.

References

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q2712345

littoralis
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Eudicots of Western Australia
Trees of Australia
Trees of Mediterranean climate
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
Ornamental trees
Plants described in 1810