''Banksia victoriae'', commonly known as Woolly Orange Banksia, is a species of large shrub or small tree 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 in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

between

Northampton, Western Australia Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 868.The town contains a National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Originally ...

and Kalbarri, with the occasional plant further north as far as Zuytdorp Nature Reserve.

Description

''B. victoriae'' generally grows as a tall

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 ...

, but older plants sometimes attain a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

habit, growing as high as seven metres. It has smooth grey back and densely hairy stems. Leaves are long and wide, with deep triangular lobes and woolly surfaces. Flowers occur in typical ''Banksia'' "flower spikes",

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s made up of hundreds of pairs of flowers densely packed in a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:follicles develop in the flower spike. These are usually concealed by withered flower parts, which persist on the spike for a long time.

Taxonomy

Discovery and naming

The first known specimens of ''B. victoriae'' may have been seeds sent to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early 1830s. These seeds were distributed to a number of gardens, and by 1835 three gardens had successfully raised plants to flowering: the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, the garden of

George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland PC (22 June 1778 – 22 August 1867), styled Lord Lovaine between 1790 and 1830 and known as the Earl of Beverley between 1830 and 1865, was a British Tory politician. He served as Captain of the Yeomen ...

, and that of Henry Berens of

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

. In that year, the second of these was painted by

Sarah Drake Sarah Anne Drake (1803–1857) was an English botanical illustrator who worked for John Lindley and collaborated with Augusta Innes Withers, Nathaniel Wallich and others. Biography Sarah Anne Drake was born in Skeyton, England on 24 July 1803 ...

, and included as Plate 1728 in '' Edwards's Botanical Register''. In the accompanying text,

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

identified the plant as '' B. speciosa'' (Showy Banksia), but commented "We found neither the whiteness of the under side of the leaves, nor the faintness of the veins, which are supposed to be characteristic of the species". Doubts were raised about the identity of the species in 1857, when

Walter Hood Fitch Walter Hood Fitch (28 February 1817 – 1892) was a botanical illustrator, born in Glasgow, Scotland, who executed some 10,000 drawings for various publications. His work in colour lithograph, including 2700 illustrations for ''Curtis's Bot ...

painted ''B. victoriae'' based on a cut flower provided by David Moore of Glasnevin Botanical Garden. Fitch's painting appeared as Plate 4906 in Volume 82 of ''

Curtis's Botanical Magazine ''The Botanical Magazine; or Flower-Garden Displayed'', is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine''. Each of the issue ...

'', and was accompanied by the text: "There can, I think, be no doubt of its being the same with the ''B. speciosa'' above quoted in the Bot. Reg., but not the ''B. speciosa'' of Br. and Hook., Bot. Mag. t. 3052; and equally certain does it appear to be the ''B. Victoriæ'' of Meisner." Thus it was implied that 1835 plate was in fact ''B. victoriae'', a suggestion that was supported by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

in his treatment of the species in his 1870 ''

Flora Australiensis ''Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory'', more commonly referred to as ''Flora Australiensis'', and also known by its standard abbreviation ''Fl. Austral.'', is a seven-volume flora of Australia published be ...

''. Despite this possible early collection, it would not be until 1850 or 1851 that James Drummond collected the plant material upon which would be based the formal publication of ''B. victoriae''. He collected the species only once, probably from near the Hutt River, and his material was sent to England as part of ''Drummond's sixth collection''. In 1855

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 ...

published a formal description of the species in '' Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany'', referring to it as "a noble species, very near ''B. speciosa'', but easily distinguished by the segments of the leaves being larger, flat, not white underneath, nor scrobiculate above, etc.". He named it in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

; thus the full name for the species is ''Banksia victoriae'' Meisn. He appears to have been unaware of the 1835 plate that would later be attributed to ''B. victoriae''. The common name is woolly orange banksia.

Infrageneric placement

Although Meissner did not proffer an infrageneric placement for ''B. victoriae'' in his 1855 publication of the species, he did so the following year in his chapter on the

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 ...

for

A. P. de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years 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 ...

''. Under

Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia Carl Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of ''Banksia'' was published in 1856, as part of his chapter on the Proteaceae in A. P. de Candolle's '' Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis''. It was the first attempt to provide an infrageneric ...

, ''B. victoriae'' was placed in section ''Eubanksia'', series ''Dryandroideae''. This arrangement stood until 1870, which

published his arrangement, in which he placed the species in section ''Orthostylis''. In 1891,

Otto Kuntze Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze (23 June 1843 – 27 January 1907) was a German botanist. Biography Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig. An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled ''Pocket Fauna of Leipzig''. Between 1863 and 1866 he ...

, in his ''

Revisio Generum Plantarum ''Revisio Generum Plantarum'', also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Revis. Gen. Pl.'', is a botanic treatise by Otto Kuntze. It was published in three volumes; the first two of these appeared in 1891, and the third was published in ...

'', 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 ''Pimelea'', commonly known as rice flowers, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 150 species, including 110 in Australia and thirty six in New Zealand. Description Plants in the genus ''Pimelea'' are he ...

''. Kuntze proposed ''Sirmuellera'' as an alternative, referring to this species as ''Sirmuellera victoriae''. This application of the

principle of priority 270px, '' valid name. Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two asp ...

was largely ignored by Kuntze's contemporaries, and ''Banksia'' L.f. was formally conserved and ''Sirmuellera'' rejected in 1940. Bentham's arrangement stood for over a century, before being superseded by Alex George's revision, published in his 1981 monograph '' The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)''. George placed the species in ''Banksia'' subgenus ''Banksia'', section ''Banksia'', series ''Crocinae''. This placement was rejected by

Kevin Thiele Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include ...

and

Pauline Ladiges Pauline Yvonne Ladiges (born 1948) is a botanist whose contributions have been significant both in building the field of taxonomy, ecology and historical biogeography of Australian plants, particularly Eucalypts and flora, and in science educa ...

in 1996; their arrangement, which was based on a

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

analysis of morphological features, discarded ''Crocinae'' altogether, instead placing ''B. victoriae'' in series ''Banksia'', subseries ''Cratistylis'', alongside '' B. burdettii'' (Burdett's Banksia). However, George did not accept this revision, and overturned it in his 1999 monograph for the ''

Flora of Australia The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwana, ...

'' series. Under George's taxonomic arrangement of ''Banksia'', ''B. victoriae'' placement may be summarised as follows: Banksia victoriae

:Genus ''

'' ::Subgenus ''

'' :::Section ''

'' ::::Series '' Salicinae'' ::::Series '' Grandes'' ::::Series ''

'' ::::Series '' Crocinae'' :::::'' B. prionotes'' - '' B. burdettii'' - '' B. hookeriana'' - ''B. victoriae'' ::::Series '' Prostratae'' ::::Series ''

Cyrtostylis ''Cyrtostylis'', commonly known as gnat orchids, is a genus of five or six species of flowering plants in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is native to Australia and New Zealand. Cyrtostylis orchids often form dense colonies of genetically id ...

'' ::::Series '' Tetragonae'' ::::Series '' Bauerinae'' ::::Series '' Quercinae'' :::Section '' Coccinea'' :::Section '' Oncostylis'' ::Subgenus '' Isostylis'' Since 1998,

Austin Mast Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently a professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (FSU), and has been dire ...

has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

data for the subtribe

Banksiinae ''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 ...

, which comprises ''Banksia'' and ''

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 ...

''. Mast's analysis strongly supports Thiele's placement of ''B. victoriae'', finding it to fall within a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

with '' B. menziesii'' (Menzies' Banksia), ''B. burdettii'', '' B. hookeriana'' (Hooker's Banksia) and '' B. prionotes'' (Acorn Banksia), all of which are members of Thiele and Ladiges' ''Cratistylis''. Overall, the inferred

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...

is very greatly different from George's arrangement, and provides compelling evidence for the

paraphyly In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

of ''Banksia'' with respect to ''Dryandra''. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of ''Banksia'' by transferring ''Dryandra'' into it, and publishing ''B.'' subg. ''Spathulatae'' for the species having spoon-shaped

cotyledon A cotyledon (; ; ; , gen. (), ) is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." The numb ...

s; thus they also redefined the autonym ''B.'' subg. ''Banksia'' as containing the species not having spoon-shaped cotyledons. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of ''Dryandra'' was complete; in the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then ''B. victoriae'' is placed in ''B.'' subg. ''Banksia''.

Distribution and habitat

''B. victoriae'' occurs only within a fairly small areas between Northampton and the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Under Version 5.1 of the

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

(IBRA), this distribution fell entirely without the

Geraldton Sandplains Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

region. However the boundary between the Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo biogeographic regions has been substantially redrawn for IBRA Version 6.1, and it is not clear from publicly available data whether the species should now be considered to occur also in the Yalgoo region. The species grows in deep yellow or pale red sand, amongst tall shrubland. It was previously thought to occur only from the coast, but during ''

The Banksia Atlas ''The Banksia Atlas'' is an atlas that documents the ranges, habitats and growth forms of various species and other subgeneric taxa of ''Banksia'', an iconic Australian wildflower genus. First published in 1988, it was the result of a three-ye ...

'' project, a few specimens were found within just a few kilometres of the coast. Although restricted to a small area, it is quite common within this area, and is sometimes dominates the vegetation.

Ecology

Like most other

, ''B. victoriae'' has

proteoid root Cluster roots, also known as proteoid roots, are plant roots that form clusters of closely spaced short lateral rootlets. They may form a two- to five-centimetre-thick mat just beneath the leaf litter. They enhance nutrient uptake, possibly by ch ...

s, 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 Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

-deficient native soils of Australia. The species lacks 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 ...

, so plants are killed by bushfire. However, it is adapted to release its aerial seed bank following a bushfire, and so regenerates rapidly. This behaviour, known as

serotiny Serotiny in botany simply means 'following' or 'later'. In the case of serotinous flowers, it means flowers which grow following the growth of leaves, or even more simply, flowering later in the season than is customary with allied species. Havi ...

, makes ''B. victoriae'' dependent upon a suitable fire regime for successful regeneration. Other threats to the species include susceptibility to ''

Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called "root rot", "dieback", or (in certain '' Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...

'' dieback, and the loss of flowers due to harvesting for the cut flower trade. However, it is not currently considered endangered, partly because a significant proportion of the population occur within the

Kalbarri National Park Kalbarri National Park is located north of Perth, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The major geographical features of the park include the Murchison River gorge which runs for nearly on the lower reaches of the Murchison River. Sp ...

; it has not been given a rating under Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation's

Declared Rare and Priority Flora List The Declared Rare and Priority Flora List is the system by which Western Australia's conservation flora are given a priority. Developed by the Government of Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation, it was used extensively wi ...

Cultivation

With attractive, deep-green foliage and large, brightly coloured flower species that are held outside the canopy, ''B. victoriae'' is a popular garden plant. It requires a sunny aspect in well-drained soil, and is sensitive to frost. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 27 to 41 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 ...

. It is easy to propagate from seed, but rather difficult from cuttings. It grows quickly, and flowers in three to four years from seed. George recommends only light pruning, not below the green foliage. It is also very popular for cut flower production, not just because of its attractive foliage and flower spikes, but also because flower spikes occur terminally on a branch, allowing flowers to be cut with a stem.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banksia victoriae victoriae Eudicots of Western Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia