''Banksia solandri'', commonly known as Stirling Range banksia, is a species of large shrub in the

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

''. It occurs only within the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

in southwest Western Australia. Its scientific name honours the botanist

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil. Biography ...

, one of the first collectors of ''Banksia''.

Description

It is a woody shrub to 4 m (13 ft) high with large, broad serrate leaves and thick finely-furred stems. Flowering is in spring and early summer, the inflorescences are fawn in colour.

Taxonomy

''B. solandri'' was first collected by William Baxter from the vicinity of

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

, and published by Robert Brown in his 1830 ''

Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae ''Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae'' ("First supplement to the Prodromus of the flora of New Holland") is an 1830 supplement to Robert Brown's ''Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. It may be referred to ...

''. The name honors

, a student of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

who accompanied

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...

on the

first voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. It was the first of three Pacific voyages of which James Cook was the commander. The ...

, who collected the first specimens of ''Banksia'' to be scientifically described. In 1847 it was recollected from Mondurup in the

Stirling Ranges The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

by James Drummond. The following year Drummond published the name "''Banksia hookeri''" for the species: In 1856, this name was relegated to a synonym of ''Banksia solandri'' var. ''major'', but that variety is no longer maintained, and ''B. hookeri'' is now considered a synonym of ''B. solandri''. ''Banksia solandri'' has always been regarded as most closely related to ''

Banksia grandis ''Banksia grandis'', commonly known as bull banksia or giant banksia, is a species of common and distinctive tree in the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as beera, biara, boongura, gwangia, pira or peera. It ...

'' in the series Grandes, and more recent molecular studies support this arrangement.

Cultivation

''Banksia solandri'' is extremely sensitive to

dieback Dieback may refer to a number of plant problems and diseases including: * Forest dieback caused by acid rain, heavy metal pollution, or imported pathogens * The death of regions of a plant or similar organism caused by physical damage, such as from ...

, however it is easily grafted onto ''

Banksia integrifolia ''Banksia integrifolia'', commonly known as the coast banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed ''Banksia'' species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a b ...

''. The foliage makes for an attractive garden shrub. It will grow with a sunny aspect and well drained soil. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 36 to 71 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 ...

References

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External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2264061 solandri Eudicots of Western Australia Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773) Plants described in 1830