Family: Proteaceae
Plant: Shrub or twisted small tree up to 8m high with warty grey-brown furrowed bark.
Flowers: Greyish-cream flowers with styles gently curved, arranged in a thick cylindrical spike up to 15cm long and 10cm diameter.
Flowering: December-June.
Fruit: Large shaggy woody cone with many prominent velvety 2.5-3cm wide follicles, each containing 2 winged seeds.
Leaves: Oblong to narrow-obovate, tough, leathery, bluntly toothed, 5-20cm long and up to 4cm wide. The leaves are dark green and glossy above, dull pale green below.
Habitat: Widespread in heathland, coastal dunes and dry sclerophyll forest – always on poor sandy soils.
Features: Gnarled thick trunk. Glossy leathery toothed leaves. Large inflorescence and fruit.
Name:
Banksia After Sir Joseph Banks who collected the first specimens in Botany Bay in 1770.
serrata From Latin serra = saw and atus = like (referring to its serrated leaves).
|
Type |
Tree, Shrub |
|
|
Flowers |
Form |
Cylindrical, Spike |
|
|
Colour(s) |
Cream, Grey, Yellow |
|
|
Petal/Sepal No. |
- |
|
|
Flowering Month |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 |
|
Fruit |
Type |
Cone |
|
|
Colour |
Grey, Brown, Black |
|
|
Other Features |
Woody |
|
Leaves |
Arrangement |
Alternate, Whorled |
|
|
Type |
Simple |
|
|
Shape |
Spoon |
|
|
Length |
Medium, Long |
|
|
Margins |
Toothed/Serrated |
|
|
Attachment |
Stalked |
|
|
Other Features |
Discolorous |
|
Bark |
Rough/Furrowed |
|
|
Habitat |
Dry sclerophyll forest, Heathland |
|