''Franklandia'' is a genus of small shrubs in family Proteaceae, commonly known as lanolin bushes. It is endemic to Southwest Australia.

Description

Franklandias are heathland shrubs found on white or grey sands. They possess 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 ...

, allowing them to recover from

bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

. Several erect branches emerge from an upright stem. The flowers are medium to large and composed of four parts, the colour of which may by creamy, white, golden or red. The appearance of the outer parts is petal-like. Several of these are arranged in racemes on an elongated scape. The anthers are found within the floral tube, distinguishing the genus from many other Proteaceae. The foliage is fleshy or leathery, glabrous, large, bluish green leaves whose structure is narrow and tapering, it repeatedly bifurcates at the tip. The cavities of the leaves give a rough appearance.

Species

A description of '' Franklandia fucifolia'' was published in Robert Brown's 1810 paper

On the Proteaceae of Jussieu ''On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae'', also published as "On the Proteaceae of Jussieu", was a paper written by Robert Brown on the taxonomy of the plant family Proteaceae. It was read to the Linnean Society of London in the firs ...

, naming the genus after the botanist Thomas Frankland. Brown collected flowering specimens and seeds "In moist heaths near the shores" 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 ...

in 1801. The distribution of the species is recorded in the southern regions of the botanical province, along the coast to the eastern

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a p ...

. This species is sometimes found on sand over laterite. The height is between 300 mm to 1.3 metres. The long flowering period is from January to October. A second species, '' Franklandia triaristata'', was described 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 studie ...

in 1870. This is a rarer population, recorded in a smaller distribution range at the south-western corner of the state. A smaller shrub than ''F. fucifolia'', up to a metre in height, the shorter flowering period is from August to October.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5491128 Proteaceae Proteaceae genera Proteales of Australia Eudicots of Western Australia * Endemic flora of Southwest Australia