Banksia splendida

Banksia splendida, commonly known as shaggy dryandra,[2] is a species of shrub that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has sharply-pointed linear leaves that are woolly on the lower surface, cream-coloured and maroon or yellow flowers in heads of between 65 and 115, and later up to eight egg-shaped follicles in each head.

Shaggy dryandra
Banksia splendida at Tathra National Park, Western Australia
Scientific classification Edit this 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. splendida
Binomial name
Banksia splendida
Synonyms[1]

Description

Banksia splendida is a much-branched shrub that typically grows to a height of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) but does not form a lignotuber. It has sharply-pointed, linear leaves that are 50–100 mm (2.0–3.9 in) long and 1–1.5 mm (0.039–0.059 in) wide on a petiole 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) long. The edges of the leaves are rolled under and the lower surface in woolly-hairy. The flowers are arranged in a head of between 65 and 115 with linear, tapering and thread-like involucral bracts 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in) long at the base of the head. The perianth is cream-coloured near its base, maroon or yellow above, 24–30 mm (0.94–1.18 in) long and the pistil is cream-coloured, 23–29 mm (0.91–1.14 in) long with a pale red pollen-presenter. Flowering occurs from July to September and the fruit is an egg-shaped follicle 18–25 mm (0.71–0.98 in) long.[2][3]

Taxonomy

This species was first collected by James Drummond in the late 1840s, and sent to England in Supplement 19 to his 5th Collection. The first mention of the species occurred in 1852, when Meissner published "A list of the Proteaceae collected in south-western Australia by Mr. James Drummond" in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. This list includes an entry for this specimen under the name "Dryandra speciosa Meisn. MSS.".[4][5] Four years later, Meissner formally published this name in his chapter on the Proteaceae in de Candolle's Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis.[6] No etymology was given for the specific epithet, but it is accepted that it comes from the Latin speciosus ("showy"), and refers to the attractive inflorescences; if so then this is somewhat inappropriate since the flowers tend to be obscured by foliage.[7]

Meissner placed D. speciosa in D. sect. Eudryandra on the grounds that it contained a single seed separator, and erected for it a new series (Haplophyllae) of unstated rank, because it has Folia omniæ integerrima ("All the leaves have completely smooth margins"). Meissner's arrangement differed from George Bentham's 1870 arrangement in Flora Australiensis and was based solely on floral characters and disregarded leaf shape. Bentham retained D. speciosa in D. sect. Eudryandra, but placed it in a new series Gymnocephalae with D. Shuttleworthiana (now B. shuttleworthiana (bearded dryandra)) and D. tridentata (now B. tridentata (yellow honeypot).[8]

Bentham's arrangement stood until 1996, when Alex George published a revision of the genus in the journal Nuytsia. Dryandra sect. Eudryandra was discarded as invalid, and replaced by the autonym at subgenus rank, D. subg. Dryandra. Dryandra speciosa was retained in this subgenus, and in D. ser. Gymnocephalae, despite the latter having a significantly different circumscription in George's arrangement.[9]

In the same journal, George described two subspecies of D. speciosa:

  • Dryandra speciosa subsp. speciosa that has between 85 and 115 flowers in each head and follicles 18–21 mm (0.71–0.83 in) long;
  • Dryandra speciosa subsp. macrocarpa that has between 65 and 75 flowers in each head and follicles 24–25 mm (0.94–0.98 in) long.[9]

Since 1998, Austin Mast has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae. His analyses have provided evidence of the paraphyly of Banksia with respect to Dryandra.[10][11][12] Early in 2007, Mast and Kevin Thiele initiated a rearrangement of Banksia by merging Dryandra into it.

As there was already a plant named Banksia speciosa (showy banksia), Mast and Thiele had to choose a new specific epithet for D. speciosa; their choice, splendida, is from the Latin splendidus ("brilliant"), in reference to the attractive inflorescences. No infrageneric arrangement has been proffered in replacement for the arrangement of George's now set aside. Mast and Thiele have foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra is complete.[13][14] The subspecies names splendida and macrocarpa are accepted by the Australian Plant Census.[15][16]

Distribution and habitat

The two subspecies of shaggy dryandra grow in kwongan and occur in two disjunct areas. Subspecies splendida is found near Tammin and subsp. macrocarpa occurs between the Tathra National Park and Badgingarra.[3][17][18]

Conservation status

Banksia splendida subsp. splendida is classified as "Priority Two" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations and subsp. macrocarpa is classified as "Priority Three"[2] meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[19]

References

  1. "Banksia splendida". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. "Banksia splendida". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  3. George, Alex S. (1999). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 17B. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. pp. 335–337. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. "Dryandra speciosa". APNI. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  5. Meissner, Carl D.F.; Hooker, William J. (ed) (1852). "A list of Proteaceae collected in south-western Australia by Mr James Drummond (continued from p. 187)". Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. 4: 211. Retrieved 10 June 2020. {{cite journal}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  6. Meissner, Carl D.F.; de Candolle, Augustin Pyramus (ed.) (1856). Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis, sive, Enumeratio contracta ordinum generum specierumque plantarum huc usque cognitarium, juxta methodi naturalis, normas digesta. Paris: Sumptibus Victoris Masson. pp. 479–480. Retrieved 10 June 2020. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  7. Cavanagh, Tony; Pieroni, Margaret (2006). The Dryandras. Melbourne: Australian Plants Society (SGAP Victoria); Perth: Wildflower Society of Western Australia. ISBN 1-876473-54-1.
  8. Bentham, George; von Mueller, Ferdinand (1870). Flora Australiensis. Vol. 5. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. pp. 562–584. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. George, Alex (1996). "New taxa and a new infrageneric classification in Dryandra R.Br. (Proteaceae : Grevilleoideae)". Nuytsia. 10 (3): 327–381. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. Mast, Austin R. (1998). "Molecular systematics of subtribe Banksiinae (Banksia and Dryandra; Proteaceae) based on cpDNA and nrDNA sequence data: implications for taxonomy and biogeography". Australian Systematic Botany. 11 (4): 321–342. doi:10.1071/SB97026.
  11. Mast, Austin R.; Givnish, Thomas J. (2002). "Historical biogeography and the origin of stomatal distributions in Banksia and Dryandra (Proteaceae) based on Their cpDNA phylogeny". American Journal of Botany. 89 (8): 1311–1323. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.8.1311. ISSN 0002-9122. PMID 21665734.
  12. Mast, Austin R.; Jones, Eric H.; Havery, Shawn P. (2005). "An assessment of old and new DNA sequence evidence for the paraphyly of Banksia with respect to Dryandra (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. CSIRO Publishing / Australian Systematic Botany Society. 18 (1): 75–88. doi:10.1071/SB04015.
  13. Mast, Austin R.; Thiele, Kevin (2007). "The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 20: 63–71. doi:10.1071/SB06016.
  14. "Banksia splendida". APNI. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  15. "Banksia splendida subsp. splendida". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  16. "Banksia splendida subsp. macrocarpa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  17. "Banksia splendida subsp. splendida". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  18. "Banksia splendida subsp. macrocarpa". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  19. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
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