Banksia serrata
Encyclopedia
Banksia serrata, commonly known as Old Man Banksia, Saw Banksia, Saw-tooth Banksia and Red Honeysuckle, is a species of woody shrub
or tree of the genus Banksia
in the Proteaceae
family. Native the east coast of Australia
, it is found from Queensland through to Victoria with outlying populations on Tasmania and Flinders Island
. Commonly growing as a gnarled tree up to 15 m (50 ft) in height, it can be much smaller in more exposed areas. The banksia has serrated, dark green leaves and large, yellow or greyish-yellow flower spikes.
It is one of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
's original description of the genus. There are no recognised varieties, although it is closely related to Banksia aemula
. It grows exclusively in sandy soils, and is usually the dominant plant in scrubland or low woodland
. Banksia serrata is pollinated
by and provides food for a wide array of vertebrate
and invertebrate
animals in the autumn and winter months. It is an important source of food for honeyeater
s (Meliphagidae).
Banksia serrata usually grows as a gnarled and misshapen tree up to 15 m (50 ft) tall, although in some coastal habitats it grows as a shrub of 1-3 m (3-10 ft), and on exposed coastal cliffs it has even been recorded as a prostrate shrub. As a tree, it usually has a single, stout trunk with the rough grey bark characteristic of Banksia. The fire-retardant bark itself can be up to 6 cm (2.4 in) thick and is cork-like in texture. Trunks are often black from past bushfires, and ooze a red sap when injured. The leaves a dark glossy green above and light green below, eight to twenty centimetres long, and two to four centimetres wide. Except near the base of the leaf, the margins are serrated with lobes between one and three millimetres deep. Leaves occur crowded together at the upper end of branches, giving the canopy a thin, sparse appearance. The flowers are a silvery grey colour, with cream or golden styles, and occur in Banksias distinctive cylindrical flower spikes. "Cones" may have up to 30 follicles, and usually appear hairy due to the retention of old withered flower parts. This tree also possesses a lignotuber
, which is an underground structure that stores energy that the plant can use to regenerate after severe bushfire. The species is not to be confused with B. aemula
, which has slightly smaller anthers.
on 29 April 1770, by Sir Joseph Banks
and Dr Daniel Solander
, naturalists on the Endeavour
during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook
's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean
. However, the species was not published until April 1782, when Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
described the first four Banksia species in his Supplementum Plantarum
. As the first named species of the genus, Banksia serrata is considered the type species
.
Banksia serrata is a fairly uniform species, showing little variation between different habitats other than occasionally occurring as a shrub in coastal areas. No subspecific taxa are recognised. A member of the Banksia
(formerly Orthostylis) series, its closest relatives are Banksia aemula
and Banksia ornata
. George's 1981 publication of B. ser. Orthostylis was illegal, as the inclusion of B. serrata (Saw Banksia), meant that it was required under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature to be given the autonym
Banksia L.f. ser. Banksia . This has been recognised and corrected in later publications.
(39°08′S) in Victoria
to the south, north to Maryborough, Queensland
(25°31′S) . There is also a large population at Sisters Creek in Tasmania
Also, another exists in the south west corner of the Wingaroo Nature Reserve in the northern part of Flinders Island
. The Wingaroo NR Conservation Plan (2000) reports that the population comprises around 60 to 80 individual trees, the majority of which are believed to be quite old. It adds there is evidence of slow and continuous regeneration, which appears to be occurring in the absence of fire.
Throughout its range, Banksia serrata is found on well-drained sandy soil, and is often found on stabilised soil near the coast but just behind the main dune system.
(Manorina melanophrys) and White-cheeked Honeyeater
(Phylidonyris nigra). The immature follicles are eaten by Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus). Banksia serrata is a host plant for the larval and adult stages of the buprestid beetle Cyrioides imperialis.
', it does require a well drained soil, preferably fairly sandy and a sunny aspect. Summer watering is also helpful. Note that the plant may take several years to flower. It is often used in amenities plantings in streets, parks and public gardens in areas to which it is native.
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...
or tree of the genus 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...
in the Proteaceae
Proteaceae
Proteaceae is a family of flowering plants distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises about 80 genera with about 1600 species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae they make up the order Proteales. Well known genera include Protea, Banksia, Embothrium, Grevillea,...
family. Native the east coast of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, it is found from Queensland through to Victoria with outlying populations on Tasmania and Flinders Island
Flinders Island
Flinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island...
. Commonly growing as a gnarled tree up to 15 m (50 ft) in height, it can be much smaller in more exposed areas. The banksia has serrated, dark green leaves and large, yellow or greyish-yellow flower spikes.
It is one of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus the Younger was a Swedish naturalist...
's original description of the genus. There are no recognised varieties, although it is closely related to Banksia aemula
Banksia aemula
Banksia aemula, commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a lignotuberous shrub of the Proteaceae family. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a taller tree to 8 m in coastal heath on deep sandy soil, known as Wallum...
. It grows exclusively in sandy soils, and is usually the dominant plant in scrubland or low woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
. Banksia serrata is pollinated
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
by and provides food for a wide array of vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
and invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
animals in the autumn and winter months. It is an important source of food for honeyeater
Honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family of small to medium sized birds most common in Australia and New Guinea, but also found in New Zealand, the Pacific islands as far east as Samoa and Tonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea known as Wallacea...
s (Meliphagidae).
Description
Lignotuber
A lignotuber is a starchy swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem by fire. The crown contains buds from which new stems may sprout, and a sufficient store of nutrients to support a period of growth in the absence of...
, which is an underground structure that stores energy that the plant can use to regenerate after severe bushfire. The species is not to be confused with B. aemula
Banksia aemula
Banksia aemula, commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a lignotuberous shrub of the Proteaceae family. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a taller tree to 8 m in coastal heath on deep sandy soil, known as Wallum...
, which has slightly smaller anthers.
Taxonomy
Banksia serrata was first collected at Botany BayBotany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
on 29 April 1770, by Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
and Dr Daniel Solander
Daniel Solander
Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil.-Biography:...
, naturalists on the Endeavour
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. However, the species was not published until April 1782, when Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
Carolus Linnaeus the Younger
Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus the Younger was a Swedish naturalist...
described the first four Banksia species in his Supplementum Plantarum
Supplementum Plantarum
Supplementum Plantarum Systematis Vegetabilium Editionis Decimae Tertiae, Generum Plantarum Editiones Sextae, et Specierum Plantarum Editionis Secundae, commonly abbreviated to Supplementum Plantarum Systematis Vegetabilium or just Supplementum Plantarum, and further abbreviated by botanists to...
. As the first named species of the genus, Banksia serrata is considered the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
.
Banksia serrata is a fairly uniform species, showing little variation between different habitats other than occasionally occurring as a shrub in coastal areas. No subspecific taxa are recognised. A member of the Banksia
Banksia ser. Banksia
Banksia ser. Banksia is avalid botanic name for a series of Banksia. As an autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of Banksia, B. serrata . Within this constraint, however, there have been various circumscriptions.-According to Bentham:Banksia ser. Banksia originated in 1870 as...
(formerly Orthostylis) series, its closest relatives are Banksia aemula
Banksia aemula
Banksia aemula, commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a lignotuberous shrub of the Proteaceae family. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a taller tree to 8 m in coastal heath on deep sandy soil, known as Wallum...
and Banksia ornata
Banksia ornata
The Desert Banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia which grows up to 3 m tall. It occurs in western Victoria, and in South Australia, where it is common on the Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and east of Adelaide, but is apparently absent from Yorke Peninsula.It tends to grow...
. George's 1981 publication of B. ser. Orthostylis was illegal, as the inclusion of B. serrata (Saw Banksia), meant that it was required under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature to be given the autonym
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....
Banksia L.f. ser. Banksia . This has been recognised and corrected in later publications.
Distribution and habitat
Banksia serrata occurs on the Australian mainland from Wilsons PromontoryWilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland and is located at . South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia...
(39°08′S) in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
to the south, north to Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...
(25°31′S) . There is also a large population at Sisters Creek in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
Also, another exists in the south west corner of the Wingaroo Nature Reserve in the northern part of Flinders Island
Flinders Island
Flinders Island may refer to:In Australia:* Flinders Island , in the Furneaux Group, is the largest and best known* Flinders Island * Flinders Island , in the Investigator Group* Flinders Island...
. The Wingaroo NR Conservation Plan (2000) reports that the population comprises around 60 to 80 individual trees, the majority of which are believed to be quite old. It adds there is evidence of slow and continuous regeneration, which appears to be occurring in the absence of fire.
Throughout its range, Banksia serrata is found on well-drained sandy soil, and is often found on stabilised soil near the coast but just behind the main dune system.
Ecology
This species is a food source for a number of bird species. Nectar eating birds that have been observed feeding at the flowers include Bell MinerBell Miner
The Bell Miner, Manorina melanophrys, colloquially known as the Bellbird, is a colonial honeyeater endemic to southeastern Australia. They were given their common name because they feed almost exclusively on the dome-like coverings of certain psyllid bugs, referred to as "bell lerps," that feed on...
(Manorina melanophrys) and White-cheeked Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
The White-cheeked Honeyeater inhabits the east coast and the south-west corner of Australia. It has a large white patch on its cheek, a brown eye, and a yellow panel on its wing.- Description :...
(Phylidonyris nigra). The immature follicles are eaten by Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus). Banksia serrata is a host plant for the larval and adult stages of the buprestid beetle Cyrioides imperialis.
Cultivation
In cultivation, though relatively resistant to 'diebackPhytophthora 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...
', it does require a well drained soil, preferably fairly sandy and a sunny aspect. Summer watering is also helpful. Note that the plant may take several years to flower. It is often used in amenities plantings in streets, parks and public gardens in areas to which it is native.
Cultivars
- Banksia 'Pygmy Possum'Banksia 'Pygmy Possum'Banksia 'Pygmy Possum, formerly Banksia 'Austraflora Pygmy Possum, and also known by its extended cultivar name Banksia serrata 'Pygmy Possum, is a registered Banksia cultivar...
- originally propagated by Austraflora Nursery, this is a prostrate form originally from Green CapeGreen CapeGreen Cape is a headland or cape on the far south coast of New South Wales. It is located at 37° 15' S 150° 03' E, within Ben Boyd National Park, south of Eden, New South Wales...
area on the NSW far south coast. Similar plants are now seen in nurseries called simply B. serrata (Prostrate) collected from the same area. This plant is suitable for rockeries and small gardens. - Banksia 'Superman'Banksia 'Superman'Banksia 'Superman, also known by its extended cultivar name Banksia serrata 'Superman, is a registered Banksia cultivar. Its leaves and inflorescences are most the twice the size of typical plants of its parent species, Banksia serrata...
- selection from large flowered (spikes to 27 cm high) and large leaved population from Scotts HeadScotts HeadScotts Head can refer to:*a town in New South Wales, Australia;*a village in the south of Dominica....
on NSW mid north coast. As yet, not in commercial cultivation, though is registered with ACRAAustralian Cultivar Registration AuthorityThe Australian Cultivar Registration Authority is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Australian plant genera, excluding those genera or groups for which other ICRAs have been appointed...
.