Banksia falcata, commonly known as prickly dryandra,[2] is a species of prickly, column-shaped shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has serrated or pinnatipartite leaves, heads of up to 150 yellow flowers and soft-hairy fruit.
Prickly dryandra | |
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Illustration from Edwards's Botanical Register | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Proteales |
Family: | Proteaceae |
Genus: | Banksia |
Subgenus: | Banksia subg. Banksia |
Series: | Banksia ser. Dryandra |
Species: | B. falcata |
Binomial name | |
Banksia falcata | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Banksia falcata is a column-shaped shrub that typically grows to a height of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) but does not form a lignotuber. It has undulating, serrated to pinnatipartite leaves that are wedge-shaped in outline, 35–80 mm (1.4–3.1 in) long and 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) wide on a petiole 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) long, with between seven and thirteen sharply-pointed teeth on each side. The flowers are borne on a head containing between 110 and 150 flowers in each head. There are linear to narrow lance-shaped involucral bracts 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) long covered with rusty, woolly hairs at the base of the head. The flowers have a bright yellow perianth 30–39 mm (1.2–1.5 in) long and a yellow pistil 32–45 mm (1.3–1.8 in) long. Flowering occurs from September to November or January and the follicles are oval, 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long and covered with soft hairs.[3][2]
This banksia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in the journal Transactions of the Linnean Society of London and given the name Dryandra falcata.[4] In 2007, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all the dryandras to the genus Banksia and this species became Banksia falcata.[5][6] The specific epithet (falcata) is a Latin word meaning "falcate" or "shaped like a scythe or sickle".[7]
Banksia falcata grows in kwongan between the Stirling Range and Esperance in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Mallee biogeographic regions.[3]
Taxon identifiers | |
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Banksia falcata |
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Dryandra falcata |
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