Banksia spinulosa var. cunninghamii
Encyclopedia
Banksia spinulosa var. cunninghamii, sometimes given species rank as Banksia cunninghamii, is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia
, in Victoria
and New South Wales
. It is a fast-growing non-lignotuberous shrub or small tree infrequently cultivated.
(Hill Banksia), but unlike this and all other varieties of B. spinulosa, B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii lacks a lignotuber
.
in 1823, from Mount York
in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales
. He gave it the name Banksia cunninghamii in honour of Alan Cunningham, and this name was honoured when a formal description of the taxon was published by Ludwig Reichenbach
in 1827.
It retained its specific rank in Brown's 1830 arrangement of Banksia
, being placed between B. spinulosa and B. collina (now B. spinulosa var. collina
) in subgenus Banksia verae, the "True Banksias", because its inflorescence is a typical Banksia flower spike. It was placed immediately .
Over the next 26 years, three synonyms were published. The first, Banksia lambertii, was published by Richard Courtois in 1833. Then in 1853 Ferdinand von Mueller
published Banksia prionophylla. This was a nomen nudum
until the following year, when Carl Meissner
republished the name with a formal description. This is now considered a taxonomic synonym of B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii, although in 1981 Alf Salkin proposed to resurrect the name for the Victorian population, on grounds of the large distance (700 km) between forms, and some distinguishing characteristics. A final synonym, Banksia ledifolia, dates from 1856, when Meissner inexplicably listed the name as a synonym (authored by Cunningham and in manuscript form in the Herbarium) in his chapter on the Proteaceae
for A. P. de Candolle
's Prodromus.
Banksia verae was renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847, and in Meissner's 1856 classification
it was demoted to sectional rank. Meissner further divided it into four series, with B. cunninghamii placed alongside B. collina in series Salicinae
, while B. spinulosa was placed in series Abietinae
.
When George Bentham
published his 1870 arrangement
in Flora Australiensis
, he discarded Meissner's series, placing all the species with hooked styles together in a section that he named Oncostylis
. B. cunninghamii was reduced to synonymy with B. collina, which was placed next to B. spinulosa in section Oncostylis. This arrangement would stand for over a century.
Alex George
published a new taxonomic arrangement of Banksia in his landmark 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
. Endlicher's Eubanksia became B. subg. Banksia
, and was divided into three sections, one of which was Oncostylis. Oncostylis was further divided into four series, with B. spinulosa placed in series Spicigerae
because its inflorescences are cylindrical. B. cunninghamii was reinstated at variety rank as B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii.
In 1996, Kevin Thiele
and Pauline Ladiges published a new arrangement for the genus, after cladistic
analyses yielded a cladogram
significantly different from George's arrangement. Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement
retained B. spinulosa var. collina's position within the B. spinulosa complex, and retained B. spinulosa in series Spicigerae, but placed the species alone in B. subser. Spinulosae. This arrangement stood until 1999, when George effectively reverted to his 1981 arrangement in his monograph for the Flora of Australia
series.
Under George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
, B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii's taxonomic placement may be summarised as follows:Subgenus Isostylis
Since 1998, Austin Mast
has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence
data for the subtribe Banksiinae. His analyses suggest a phylogeny that is very greatly different to George's arrangement. George's and Thiele and Ladiges' positioning of B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii within B. spinulosa is supported, but B. spinulosa's placement is not. Series Spicigerae appears to be polyphyletic
, with B. spinulosa and B. ericifolia more closely related to the taxa in Series Salicinae than it is to the other members of series Spicigerae. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by merging Dryandra
into it, and publishing B. subg. Spathulatae
for the species having spoon-shaped cotyledon
s. 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. spinulosa var. cunninghamii is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.
To date, the National Herbarium of New South Wales continues to treat this taxon as having species rank, referring to it as B. cunninghamii. Moreover, B. spinulosa var. neoanglica is considered a subspecies of it; this has no formal name, so is referred to by the manuscript name Banksia cunninghamii subsp. a sensu harden.
, with large populations east of Melbourne, along the coast near the boundary of Victoria and New South Wales, and around Sydney
. There are also many records of collections of this species in mountainous areas of northern New South Wales, but these probably need to be re-classified as B. spinulosa var. neoanglica.
It mainly grows in sand, ofter over rock, but is also found in heavier soils. It is usually an understory shrub in open forests and woodlands of Eucalyptus
.
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...
, 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....
and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. It is a fast-growing non-lignotuberous shrub or small tree infrequently cultivated.
Description
As with the other varieties of B. spinulosa (Hairpin Banksia), B. spinulosa var. collina grows as a multi-stemmed shrub with flower spikes that are all golden or golden with red or purple styles. Its leaves, flowers and fruit are all very similar to though of B. spinulosa var. neoanglicaBanksia spinulosa var. neoanglica
Banksia spinulosa var. neoanglica, commonly known as New England Banksia, is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.-Description:...
(Hill Banksia), but unlike this and all other varieties of B. spinulosa, B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii lacks a lignotuber
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...
.
Taxonomy
B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii was first collected by Franz SieberFranz Sieber
Franz Wilhelm Sieber , was a botanist and collector who travelled to Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Australia.-Early Life:Franz Sieber was born in Prague, on 30 March 1789....
in 1823, from Mount York
Mount York
Mount York is a 1061 metre high mountain in the western Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately 150 kilometres west of Sydney. It is in fact a projection of the Blue Mountains plateau, creating a promontory of the western escarpment with a minor rise at its...
in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He gave it the name Banksia cunninghamii in honour of Alan Cunningham, and this name was honoured when a formal description of the taxon was published by Ludwig Reichenbach
Ludwig Reichenbach
Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach was a German botanist and ornithologist.He was the son of Johann Friedrich Jakob Reichenbach, the author in 1818 of the first Greek-German dictionary. He was the father of Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, equally a botanist and an eminent orchid...
in 1827.
It retained its specific rank in Brown's 1830 arrangement of Banksia
Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Robert Brown's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in his 1810 Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, and expanded in this 1830 supplement to that publication, Supplementum Primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae...
, being placed between B. spinulosa and B. collina (now B. spinulosa var. collina
Banksia spinulosa var. collina
Banksia spinulosa var. collina is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales. Commonly known as Hill Banksia or Golden Candlesticks, it is a taxonomic variety of B. spinulosa...
) in subgenus Banksia verae, the "True Banksias", because its inflorescence is a typical Banksia flower spike. It was placed immediately .
Over the next 26 years, three synonyms were published. The first, Banksia lambertii, was published by Richard Courtois in 1833. Then in 1853 Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
published Banksia prionophylla. This was a nomen nudum
Nomen nudum
The phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...
until the following year, when Carl Meissner
Carl 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...
republished the name with a formal description. This is now considered a taxonomic synonym of B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii, although in 1981 Alf Salkin proposed to resurrect the name for the Victorian population, on grounds of the large distance (700 km) between forms, and some distinguishing characteristics. A final synonym, Banksia ledifolia, dates from 1856, when Meissner inexplicably listed the name as a synonym (authored by Cunningham and in manuscript form in the Herbarium) in his chapter on 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,...
for A. P. de Candolle
A. P. de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium...
's Prodromus.
Banksia verae was renamed Eubanksia by Stephan Endlicher in 1847, and in Meissner's 1856 classification
Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Carl Meissner's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in 1856, as part of his chapter on the Proteaceae in A. P. de Candolle's Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. It was the first attempt to provide an infrageneric classification for the genus, aside from Robert Brown's...
it was demoted to sectional rank. Meissner further divided it into four series, with B. cunninghamii placed alongside B. collina in series Salicinae
Banksia ser. Salicinae
Banksia ser. Salicinae is a valid botanic name for a series of Banksia. First published by Carl Meissner in 1856, the name has had three circumscriptions.-According to Meissner:...
, while B. spinulosa was placed in series Abietinae
Banksia ser. Abietinae
Banksia ser. Abietinae is avalid botanic name for a series of Banksia. First published by Carl Meissner in 1856, the name has had three circumscriptions.-According to Meissner:...
.
When George Bentham
George Bentham
George Bentham CMG FRS was an English botanist, characterized by Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century".- Formative years :...
published his 1870 arrangement
Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
George Bentham's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was published in 1870, in Volume 5 of Bentham's Flora Australiensis. A substantial improvement on the previous arrangement, it would stand for over a century. It was eventually replaced by Alex George's 1981 arrangement, published in his classic...
in Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis
Flora Australiensis: a description of the plants of the Australian Territory, more commonly referred to as Flora Australiensis, and also known by its standard abbreviation Fl. Austral., is a seven-volume flora of Australia published between 1863 and 1878 by George Bentham, with the assistance of...
, he discarded Meissner's series, placing all the species with hooked styles together in a section that he named Oncostylis
Banksia sect. Oncostylis
Banksia sect. Oncostylis is one of four sections of subgenus Banksia subg. Banksia. It contains those Banksia species with hooked pistils. All of the species in Oncostylis also exhibit a top-down sequence of flower anthesis, except for Banksia nutans which is bottom-up.Banksia sect...
. B. cunninghamii was reduced to synonymy with B. collina, which was placed next to B. spinulosa in section Oncostylis. This arrangement would stand for over a century.
Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
published a new taxonomic arrangement of Banksia in his landmark 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)
The genus Banksia L.f. is a 1981 monograph by Alex George on the taxonomy of the plant genus Banksia. Published by the Western Australian Herbarium as Nuytsia 3, it presented George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, the first major taxonomic revision of the genus since George Bentham published...
. Endlicher's Eubanksia became B. subg. Banksia
Banksia subg. Banksia
Banksia subg. Banksia is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of Banksia. As an autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of Banksia, B. serrata . Within this constraint, however, there have been various circumscriptions.-Banksia verae:B. subg...
, and was divided into three sections, one of which was Oncostylis. Oncostylis was further divided into four series, with B. spinulosa placed in series Spicigerae
Banksia ser. Spicigerae
Banksia ser. Spicigerae is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of the seven species in section Oncostylis that have cylindrical inflorescences. These range in form from small shrubs to tall trees. The leaves grow in either an alternate or whorled pattern, with various shape forms...
because its inflorescences are cylindrical. B. cunninghamii was reinstated at variety rank as B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii.
In 1996, 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 published a new arrangement for the genus, after 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...
analyses yielded a cladogram
Cladogram
A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...
significantly different from George's arrangement. Thiele and Ladiges' 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...
retained B. spinulosa var. collina's position within the B. spinulosa complex, and retained B. spinulosa in series Spicigerae, but placed the species alone in B. subser. Spinulosae. This arrangement stood until 1999, when George effectively reverted to his 1981 arrangement in his monograph for the Flora of Australia
Flora of Australia (series)
The Flora of Australia is a 59 volume series describing the vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens present in Australia and its external territories...
series.
George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia
Alex George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia was the first modern-day arrangement for that genus. First published in 1981 in the classic monograph The genus Banksia L.f. , it superseded the arrangement of George Bentham, which had stood for over a hundred years. It was overturned in 1996 by Kevin...
, B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii's taxonomic placement may be summarised as follows:
- Genus BanksiaBanksiaBanksia 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...
Banksia subg. BanksiaBanksia subg. Banksia is a valid botanic name for a subgenus of Banksia. As an autonym, it necessarily contains the type species of Banksia, B. serrata . Within this constraint, however, there have been various circumscriptions.-Banksia verae:B. subg...
- Section BanksiaBanksia sect. BanksiaBanksia sect. Banksia is one of four sections of Banksia subgenus Banksia. It contains those species of subgenus Banksia with straight or sometimes curved but not hooked styles. These species all have cylindrical inflorescences and usually exhibit a bottom-up sequence of flower anthesis...
- Section CoccineaBanksia coccineaBanksia coccinea, commonly known as the Scarlet Banksia, Waratah Banksia or Albany Banksia, is an erect shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia...
- Section OncostylisBanksia sect. OncostylisBanksia sect. Oncostylis is one of four sections of subgenus Banksia subg. Banksia. It contains those Banksia species with hooked pistils. All of the species in Oncostylis also exhibit a top-down sequence of flower anthesis, except for Banksia nutans which is bottom-up.Banksia sect...
Banksia ser. SpicigeraeBanksia ser. Spicigerae is a taxonomic series in the genus Banksia. It consists of the seven species in section Oncostylis that have cylindrical inflorescences. These range in form from small shrubs to tall trees. The leaves grow in either an alternate or whorled pattern, with various shape forms...
- B. spinulosaBanksia spinulosaThe Hairpin Banksia is a species of woody shrub, of the genus Banksia in the Proteaceae family, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heathland from Victoria to northern Queensland, generally on sandstone though sometimes also...
- B. spinulosa var. spinulosaBanksia spinulosa var. spinulosaBanksia spinulosa var. spinulosa is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.-Description:...
- B. spinulosa var. collinaBanksia spinulosa var. collinaBanksia spinulosa var. collina is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales. Commonly known as Hill Banksia or Golden Candlesticks, it is a taxonomic variety of B. spinulosa...
- B. spinulosa var. neoanglicaBanksia spinulosa var. neoanglicaBanksia spinulosa var. neoanglica, commonly known as New England Banksia, is a shrub that grows along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland and New South Wales.-Description:...
- B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii
- B. spinulosa var. spinulosa
- B. ericifoliaBanksia ericifoliaBanksia ericifolia, the Heath-leaved Banksia , is a species of woody shrub of the Proteaceae family native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range...
- B. verticillataBanksia verticillataBanksia verticillata, commonly known as Granite Banksia or Albany Banksia, is a species of shrub or tree of the genus Banksia in the Proteaceae family. It is native to the southwest of Western Australia and can reach up to 3 m in height. It can grow taller to 5 m in sheltered areas,...
- B. seminudaBanksia seminudaBanksia seminuda, commonly known as the River Banksia, is a tree in the plant genus Banksia. It is found in south west Western Australia from Dwellingup to the Broke Inlet east of Denmark . It is often mistaken for and was originally considered a subspecies of the Banksia littoralis...
- B. littoralisBanksia littoralisBanksia littoralis, commonly known as the Swamp Banksia, Swamp Oak, Pungura and the Western Swamp Banksia, is a tree in the plant genus Banksia. It is found in south west Western Australia from the south eastern metropolitan area of Perth to the Stirling Range and Albany...
- B. occidentalisBanksia occidentalisThe Red Swamp Banksia or Waterbush is a species of shrub or small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs on the south coast of Western Australia in three disjunct populations: at Augusta, around Albany and in the Esperance area.A 1980 field study at Cheyne beach showed it to be pollinated by...
- B. browniiBanksia browniiBanksia brownii, commonly known as Feather-leaved Banksia or Brown's Banksia, is a species of shrub that occurs in southwest Western Australia. An attractive plant with fine feathery leaves and large red-brown flower spikes, it usually grows as an upright bush around two metres high, but can also...
- B. spinulosa
- Series TricuspidaeBanksia tricuspisThe Lesueur Banksia or Pine Banksia is a species of shrub or tree in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs within a geographic range of just 15 square kilometres near Jurien, Western Australia.-External links:...
- Series DryandroidaeBanksia dryandroidesBanksia dryandroides, the Dryandra-leaved Banksia, is a species of small shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in shrubland, coastal heath and woodland on the south coast of Western Australia between Two Peoples Bay and Cheyne Bay. The species is placed alone in series B. ser...
- Series AbietinaeBanksia ser. AbietinaeBanksia ser. Abietinae is avalid botanic name for a series of Banksia. First published by Carl Meissner in 1856, the name has had three circumscriptions.-According to Meissner:...
- Section Banksia
Banksia subg. Isostylis
Banksia subg. Isostylis is a subgenus of Banksia. It contains three closely related species, all of which occur only in Southwest Western Australia. Members of subgenus Isostylis have dome-shaped flower heads that are superficially similar to those of B. ser...
Since 1998, 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...
has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
data for the subtribe Banksiinae. His analyses suggest a phylogeny that is very greatly different to George's arrangement. George's and Thiele and Ladiges' positioning of B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii within B. spinulosa is supported, but B. spinulosa's placement is not. Series Spicigerae appears to be polyphyletic
Polyphyly
A polyphyletic group is one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the group.For example, the group consisting of warm-blooded animals is polyphyletic, because it contains both mammals and birds, but the most recent common ancestor of mammals and birds was cold-blooded...
, with B. spinulosa and B. ericifolia more closely related to the taxa in Series Salicinae than it is to the other members of series Spicigerae. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by merging Dryandra
Dryandra
Banksia ser. Dryandra is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus Banksia. It was considered a separate genus named Dryandra until early 2007, when it was merged into Banksia on the basis of extensive molecular and morphological evidence that Banksia was paraphyletic with...
into it, and publishing 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 species 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. 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. spinulosa var. cunninghamii is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.
To date, the National Herbarium of New South Wales continues to treat this taxon as having species rank, referring to it as B. cunninghamii. Moreover, B. spinulosa var. neoanglica is considered a subspecies of it; this has no formal name, so is referred to by the manuscript name Banksia cunninghamii subsp. a sensu harden.
Distribution and habitat
This taxon occurs along the coast from Melbourne, Victoria to the northern boundary of New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, with large populations east of Melbourne, along the coast near the boundary of Victoria and New South Wales, and around Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. There are also many records of collections of this species in mountainous areas of northern New South Wales, but these probably need to be re-classified as B. spinulosa var. neoanglica.
It mainly grows in sand, ofter over rock, but is also found in heavier soils. It is usually an understory shrub in open forests and woodlands of Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
.
Cultivation
B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii is a fast-growing shrub that flowers in around five years from seed. The flower spikes are attractive but are often obscured by foliage. It prefers a well-drained heavy soil with some shade, and tolerates frost down to -8°C. It should be pruned only lightly, and not below the green foliage.External links
- Banksia cunninghamii Sieber ex Rchb., PlantNET: The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust.