Banksia seneciifolia

Description

Banksia seneciifolia is a column-shaped shrub that grows to a height of 0.6–1.0 m but does not form a lignotuber. It has linear, pinnatifid leaves 30-50 mm long and 5–15 mm wide on a petiole up to 15 mm long. There are between two and five linear lobes up to 9 mm long on each side of the leaves. About twenty-five yellow flowers are arranged in heads surrounded by linear, tapering, hairy involucral bracts up to 17 mm long at the base of each head. The perianth is 12–14 mm long and curved downwards, and the pistil is 17–19 mm long and also curved downwards. Flowering occurs from July to August. A single, narrow egg-shaped follicle 7–9 mm long forms in each head.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1830 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Dryandra seneciifolia and published the description in the Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae from specimens collected by William Baxter near King George's Sound in 1829. The specific epithet (seneciifolia) refers to the genus Senecio with the ending -folia from the Latin -folius meaning "-leaved".

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

Distribution and habitat

Banksia seneciifolia grows in mallee-kwongan in the Stirling Range National Park but there are record from before 1900 as far south as Albany.

Conservation status

This banksia 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. "''Banksia seneciifolia''".
2. {{FloraBase
3. (1999). "Flora of Australia". Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.
4. "''Dryandra seneciifolia''". APNI.
5. (1830). "Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae". Typis R. Taylor.
6. Francis Aubie Sharr. (2019). "Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings". Four Gables Press.
7. "''Banksia seneciifolia''". APNI.
8. (2013). "The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany.
9. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna". Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.