''Grevillea banksii'', commonly known as Banks' grevillea, Byfield waratah, red flowered silky oak and dwarf silky oak, and in Hawaii as kāhili flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family

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 ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Queensland. It is an erect shrub or slender tree with divided leaves with four to twelve narrow lobes, and creamy white to bright scarlet and yellow flowers.

Description

''Grevillea banksii'' is an erect, bushy to spindly shrub or slender tree that typically grows to a height of . It has mostly divided leaves with four to twelve narrowly elliptic to linear lobes long and wide with the edges turned down or rolled under. The flowers are arranged in more or less cylindrical groups near the ends of branches, each flower on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long along a

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

long, and are creamy-white or bright scarlet to crimson. The

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

is long and usually

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a glabrous follicle long.

Taxonomy

''Grevillea banksii'' was first formally described in 1810 by the botanist Robert Brown in ''

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''banksii'') honours Sir

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 ...

Distribution and habitat

Banks' grevillea is mostly found on the Queensland coast from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Yeppoon Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the ...

, but sometimes further inland. It mostly grows in woodland and forest, usually in flatter places. The species has also been introduced to Hawai'i and is an important woody weed in eastern Madagascar where it was introduced, with ''

Acacia dealbata ''Acacia dealbata'', the silver wattle, blue wattle or mimosa, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family (botany), family Fabaceae, native plant, native to southeastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australi ...

'', for erosion control.

Use in horticulture

''Grevillea banksii'' is one of the most widely cultivated grevilleas and is a parent of hybrids including ''G.'' 'Robyn Gordon' and ''G. 'Superb', ''G.'' 'Misty Pink', ''G''. 'Pink Surprise', and ''G.'' 'Ned Kelly'.

Toxicity and allergic reactions

The flowers and seed pods contain

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

hydrogen cyanide Hydrogen cyanide, sometimes called prussic acid, is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structure . It is a colorless, extremely poisonous, and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an ...

. The

alkyl resorcinol In organic chemistry, an alkyl group is an alkane missing one hydrogen. The term ''alkyl'' is intentionally unspecific to include many possible substitutions. An acyclic alkyl has the general formula of . A cycloalkyl is derived from a cycloalk ...

s in ''G. banksii'' and ''Grevillea'' 'Robyn Gordon' are responsible for

contact dermatitis Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes are ...

.Menz, J., Rossi, R., Taylor, W.C, Wall, L., Contact dermatitis from Grevillea'Robyn Gordon', ''Contact Dermatitis'', Vol. 15, Iss. 3, pp 126-131, April 2006

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q138429 banksii Proteales of Australia Flora of Queensland Garden plants of Australia Contact dermatitis