Banksia pseudoplumosa

Description

Banksia pseudoplumosa is a shrub that typically grows to a height of 1.8 m but does not form a lignotuber. It has broadly linear, pinnatipartite leaves that are 80–170 mm long and 6–15 mm wide on a petiole 10–20 mm long. There are between fifteen and thirty-one sharply-pointed triangular lobes on each side. Between ninety and one hundred yellow flowers are borne in heads with broadly linear, hairy, tapering involucral bracts up to 20 mm long at the base of each head. The perianth is 16–18 mm long and the pistil 23–25 mm long and strongly curved. Flowering occurs from November to December, and the follicles are oblong to egg-shaped and densely woolly-hairy. Only one to three follicles, 16–18 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 pseudoplumosa and published the description in the journal Nuytsia from material collected by Margaret Pieroni near Salt River Road in the Stirling Range National Park. In 2007 Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all dryandras to the genus Banksia and renamed this species Banksia pseudoplumosa.

Distribution and habitat

False plumed-banksia grows in woodland over heath in the Stirling Range National Park and in patches of remnant vegetation north of Albany. The species is known from seven subpopulations in the Stirling Range National Park and in 2009, the total population was estimated to be about 3,400 plants in an area of 600 km2 with an occupancy of 0.15 km2.

Conservation status

Banksia pseudoplumosa is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia). The main threats to the species are dieback caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi and inappropriate fire regimes. An interim recovery plan has been prepared by the Government of Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation.

References

References

1. "''Banksia pseudoplumosa''".
2. "False plumed-banksia (''Banksia pseudoplumosa'') Interim Recovery Plan 2011–2106". Government of Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation.
3. {{FloraBase
4. (1999). "Flora of Australia". Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
5. "''Dryandra pseudoplumosa''". APNI.
6. (2007). "The transfer of ''Dryandra'' R.Br. to ''Banksia'' L.f. (Proteaceae)". [[Australian Systematic Botany]].
7. "''Banksia pseudoplumosa''". APNI.
8. "Approved Conservation Advice for ''Banksia pseudoplumosa'' (a shrub)". Australian Government Department of the Environment.