Banksia porrecta

Description

Banksia porrecta is a prostrate shrub with hairy underground stems. The leaves are pinnatipartite, 150–300 mm long and 20–30 mm wide on a petiole 20–35 mm long. The petiole is hairy and there are between thirty and forty narrow triangular lobes up to 16 mm long on each side of the leaves. Between twenty and thirty yellow flowers are borne in heads with egg-shaped to oblong involucral bracts up to 25 mm long at the base of each head. The perianth is 37–40 mm long and the pistil 37–40 mm long. Flowering occurs from July to August, and one or two egg-shaped follicles 11–15 mm long form in each head.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1996 by Alex George who gave it the name Dryandra porrecta and published the description in the journal Nuytsia from specimens he collected near Woodanilling in 1986. The specific epithet (porrecta) is from the Latin porrectus, in turn from porrigo meaning "to spread out" or "to extend", referring to the prostrate habit.

In 2007, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all the dryandras to the genus Banksia and this species became Banksia porrecta.

Distribution and habitat

Banksia porrecta grows in low kwongan, often with sedges and mallee eucalypts, in scattered locations between Woodanilling and Tenterden.

Ecology

An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on this species found that its range is likely to contract by between 50% and 80% by 2080, depending on the severity of the change.

Conservation status

Banksia porrecta is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that is rare or near threatened.

References

References

1. {{FloraBase
2. (1999). "Flora of Australia". Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
3. (1996). "New taxa and a new infrageneric classification in ''Dryandra'' R.Br. (Proteaceae : Grevilleoideae)". Nuytsia.
4. "''Dryandra porrecta''". APNI.
5. "''Banksia porrecta''". APNI.
6. (2013). "The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany.
7. (2008). "Climate change, plant migration, and range collapse in a global biodiversity hotspot: the ''Banksia'' (Proteaceae) of Western Australia". Global Change Biology.
8. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna". Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.