Banksia laevigata subsp. laevigata
Encyclopedia
The Tennis Ball Banksia (Banksia laevigata subsp. laevigata) is a subspecies of small woody shrub
in the plant
genus
Banksia
. It occurs in Western Australia
's semi-arid shrubland. It and the closely related B. laevigata subsp. fuscolutea
(Golden Ball Banksia) are the two subspecies of the species Banksia laevigata
.
in 1856, after being originally collected by James Drummond
in 1848. No separate subspecies were recognised until Alex George
collected specimens of subspecies fuscolutea
east of Hyden in 1964, and formally named it two years later. The naming of a new subspecies automatically created the autonym (botany)
subspecies laevigata.
The common name is derived from the resemblance of its inflorescences to tennis ball
s.
George described its nearest probable relative as Banksia audax
and placed it in the series Cyrtostylis, which he concedes is rather heterogeneous. The series was split into three in the 1996 morphological cladistic
analysis by botanists Kevin Thiele
and Pauline Ladiges, with B. laevigata placed in the new series Ochraceae with B. audax and B. benthamiana in their arrangement
. This was reinforced in American botanist Austin Mast
’s 2002 analysis, as B. laevigata came out as sister to three groups; the first the pair comprising B. audax and B. benthamiana.
Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae
for the taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledon
s; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking 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. laevigata subsp. laevigata is placed in B. subg. Banksia.
s occur in spring and are oval in shape and a greenish yellow in colour. Flowers appear from October to December.
or laterite
, along the lower Fitzgerald River
and in the Ravensthorpe Ranges in inland southern Western Australia.
Banksia laevigata subsp. laevigata is classified as Priority Four - Rare on the Declared Rare and Priority Flora List under the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia
. That is, it is a taxon which has been adequately surveyed and which, while being rare (in Australia), are not currently threatened by any identifiable factors. It requires monitoring every 5–10 years.
dieback, it has been successfully grown on Australia's east coast. It has also been successfully grafted onto Banksia integrifolia
.
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
in the plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Banksia
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. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
. It occurs in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
's semi-arid shrubland. It and the closely related B. laevigata subsp. fuscolutea
Banksia laevigata subsp. fuscolutea
Banksia laevigata subsp. fuscolutea is a subspecies of Banksia laevigata. It is native to the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia....
(Golden Ball Banksia) are the two subspecies of the species Banksia laevigata
Banksia laevigata
Banksia laevigata is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in Western Australia's semi-arid shrubland from Southern Cross south to the Fitzgerald River National Park. It is composed of two closely related subspecies, B. laevigata subsp. laevigata and B. laevigata...
.
Taxonomy
The species B. laevigata was first described by Swiss botanist Carl MeissnerCarl Meissner
Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner was a Swiss botanist.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 year career he was Professor of Botany at University of Basel...
in 1856, after being originally collected by James Drummond
James Drummond (botanist)
James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...
in 1848. No separate subspecies were recognised until Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
collected specimens of subspecies fuscolutea
Banksia laevigata subsp. fuscolutea
Banksia laevigata subsp. fuscolutea is a subspecies of Banksia laevigata. It is native to the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia....
east of Hyden in 1964, and formally named it two years later. The naming of a new subspecies automatically created the autonym (botany)
Autonym (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . Autonyms are cited without an author. Relevant provisions are in articles 6.8, 22.1-3 and 26.1-3....
subspecies laevigata.
The common name is derived from the resemblance of its inflorescences to tennis ball
Tennis ball
A tennis ball is a ball designed for the sport of tennis,approximately 6.7 cm in diameter. Tennis balls are generally bright green, but in recreational play can be virtually any color. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous fluffy felt which modifies their aerodynamic properties...
s.
George described its nearest probable relative as Banksia audax
Banksia audax
Banksia audax is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs over a large area in the central south of Western Australia.-Description:...
and placed it in the series Cyrtostylis, which he concedes is rather heterogeneous. The series was split into three in the 1996 morphological cladistic
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
analysis by botanists Kevin Thiele
Kevin Thiele
Kevin R. Thiele is curator of the Western Australian Herbarium. His research interests include the systematics of the plant families Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae and Violaceae, and the conservation ecology of grassy woodland ecosystems...
and Pauline Ladiges, with B. laevigata placed in the new series Ochraceae with B. audax and B. benthamiana in their arrangement
Thiele and Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges' taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, published in 1996, was a novel taxonomic arrangement that was intended to align the taxonomy of Banksia more closely with the phylogeny that they had inferred from their cladistic analysis of the genus...
. This was reinforced in American botanist Austin Mast
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 an associate professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University , and has been director of FSU's since August 2003.One of his...
’s 2002 analysis, as B. laevigata came out as sister to three groups; the first the pair comprising B. audax and B. benthamiana.
Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae
Banksia subg. Spathulatae
Banksia subg. Spathulatae is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of Banksia. It was published in 2007 by Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele, and defined as containing all those Banksia species having spathulate cotyledons...
for the taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledon
Cotyledon
A cotyledon , is a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant. Upon germination, the cotyledon may become the embryonic first leaves of a seedling. The number of cotyledons present is one characteristic used by botanists to classify the flowering plants...
s; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking 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. laevigata subsp. laevigata is placed in B. subg. Banksia.
Description
The Tennis Ball banksia is a shrub to 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high with grey, flaky bark. New growth occurs in summer, and the young stems and leaves are covered in fine hairs, which fall away with age. There are 2 variants distinguished by their leaf margins, one along the Fitzgerald River with rather obtuse leaf teeth, the other in the Ravensthorpe Ranges with larger, acute teeth similar to those of subsp. fuscolutea. The former is represented by the type. The inflorescenceInflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s occur in spring and are oval in shape and a greenish yellow in colour. Flowers appear from October to December.
Distribution and habitat
Banksia laevigata subsp. laevigata grows in shrubland on stony soils of spongoliteSpongolite
Spongolite is a stone made almost entirely from fossilised sponges. It is light and porous.The silica spicules fossilised with the sponges makes the material hazardous to handle by being highly abrasive...
or laterite
Laterite
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides. They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock...
, along the lower Fitzgerald River
Fitzgerald River
The Fitzgerald River is a river in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.Surveyor General John Septimus Roe discovered and named the river during expeditions in the area in 1848 after the governor of Western Australia of the day, Charles Fitzgerald....
and in the Ravensthorpe Ranges in inland southern Western Australia.
Banksia laevigata subsp. laevigata is classified as Priority Four - Rare on the Declared Rare and Priority Flora List under the Wildlife Conservation Act of Western Australia
Wildlife Conservation Act 1950
The Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 is an act of the Western Australian Parliament that provides the statute relating to conservation and legal protection of flora and fauna....
. That is, it is a taxon which has been adequately surveyed and which, while being rare (in Australia), are not currently threatened by any identifiable factors. It requires monitoring every 5–10 years.
Ecology
Like other banksias, the Tennis Ball Banksia is likely to play host to a variety of pollinators. Ants, bees and wasps have been recorded thus far.Cultivation
Although like many western banksias it is sensitive to Phytophthora cinnamomiPhytophthora cinnamomi
Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback. The plant pathogen is one of the world's most invasive species and is present in over 70 countries from around the world.- Life cycle and effects on plants :P...
dieback, it has been successfully grown on Australia's east coast. It has also been successfully grafted onto Banksia integrifolia
Banksia integrifolia
Banksia integrifolia, commonly known as 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 broad range of habitats, from coastal dunes to mountains...
.