Summary
Banksia tortifolia is a small, spreading, prostrate shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has short underground stems, pinnatipartite leaves with sharply-pointed, linear lobes on each side, greenish-cream, yellow and pink flowers in heads of about eighty, and glabrous, egg-shaped follicles.
| Banksia tortifolia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Proteales |
| Family: | Proteaceae |
| Genus: | Banksia |
| Subgenus: | Banksia subg. Banksia |
| Series: | Banksia ser. Dryandra |
| Species: | B. tortifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Banksia tortifolia | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Description edit
Banksia tortifolia is a prostrate, spreading shrub with short, fire-resistant underground stems, and that typically grows to a height of 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in). The leaves are pinnatipartite, 100–170 mm (3.9–6.7 in) long and 7–13 mm (0.28–0.51 in) wide on a petiole 10–30 mm (0.39–1.18 in) long. There are between forty and eighty-five sharply-pointed, twisted, linear lobes on each side of the leaves. The flowers are arranged in heads of between seventy and ninety with a few hairy, thread-like involucral bracts up to 20 mm (0.79 in) long at the base of the head. The perianth is greenish cream and pink, 27–34 mm (1.1–1.3 in) long and the pistil pale yellow, 38–54 mm (1.5–2.1 in) long. Flowering occurs in October and the fruit is a glabrous, egg-shaped follicle 12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in) long.[2][3]
Taxonomy and naming edit
This species was first formally described in 1855 by Carl Meissner from an unpublished description by Richard Kippist. Meissner's description was published in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany as Dryandra tortifolia.[4][5]
In 1870, George Bentham demoted it to Dryandra arctotidis var. tortifolia in Flora Australiensis[6][7] but in 1999 Alex George in 1999 resurrected the species D. tortifolia.
In 2007 Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all dryandras to the genus Banksia and renamed this species Banksia tortifolia.[8][9]
Distribution and habitat edit
Banksia tortifolia grows in kwongan between Eneabba and Cataby.[2][3]
Conservation status edit
This banksia is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[3]
References edit
- ^ a b "Banksia tortifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ a b George, Alex S. (1999). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 17B. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. p. 352. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "Banksia tortifolia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Dryandra tortifolia". APNI. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ Meissner, Carl; Hooker, William J. (1855). "New Proteaceae of Australia". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 7: 121–122. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Dryandra arctotidis var. tortifolia". APNI. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1870). Flora Australiensis (Volume 5). London: Lovell Reeve & Co. p. 575. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ Mast, Austin R.; Thiele, Kevin (2007). "The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 20 (1): 63–71. doi:10.1071/SB06016.
- ^ "Banksia tortifolia". APNI. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- Cavanagh, Tony; Pieroni, Margaret (2006). The Dryandras. Melbourne: Australian Plants Society (SGAP Victoria); Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. ISBN 1-876473-54-1.