Banksia echinata facts for kids

Banksia echinata is a special type of shrub that only grows in Western Australia. It has unique leaves with sharp, pointy edges, and it produces clusters of about fifty pale yellow flowers. After flowering, it grows fuzzy seed pods called follicles.

What Does Banksia echinata Look Like?

This Banksia is a shrub that usually grows between 0.6 and 3 meters (about 2 to 10 feet) tall. Unlike some other plants, it doesn't have a special woody stem base called a lignotuber that helps it regrow after fires.

Leaves and Flowers

Its leaves are long and narrow, about 3 to 15 centimeters (1 to 6 inches) long and 0.6 to 1.5 centimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) wide. Each side of a leaf has between nine and twenty-five sharp, triangular teeth.

The flowers grow in a cluster, or "head," with about 45 to 55 flowers in each. At the bottom of these flower heads are small, narrow, leaf-like parts called involucral bracts, which can be up to 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) long.

The flowers themselves are a pale yellow color. Each flower has a special outer part called a perianth that is about 1.7 to 2.3 centimeters (0.7 to 0.9 inches) long. Inside, there's a female part called a pistil, which is about 2.2 to 2.6 centimeters (0.9 to 1 inch) long.

When Does it Flower?

Banksia echinata flowers from July to October. After the flowers bloom, they produce small, fuzzy seed pods called follicles, which are about 0.6 to 0.9 centimeters (0.2 to 0.4 inches) long.

How Banksia echinata Got Its Name

This Banksia was first officially described in 1996 by a scientist named Alex George. He called it Dryandra echinata at the time. He found specimens near the Brand Highway and Moore River National Park in 1986.

Later, in 2007, two other scientists, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele, moved all the plants from the Dryandra group into the Banksia group. That's when it became known as Banksia echinata.

The second part of its name, echinata, comes from a Latin word meaning "armed with many prickles." This name was chosen because of the many sharp teeth on its leaves.

Where Does Banksia echinata Live?

Banksia echinata grows in special types of plant communities in Western Australia. These include areas called kwongan (a type of shrubland) and open woodlands.

You can find this plant between towns like Regans Ford, New Norcia, and Gingin. It lives in several different natural areas, including the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest, and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions.

Is Banksia echinata Endangered?

Good news! The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife has classified Banksia echinata as "not threatened." This means it's not currently at risk of disappearing.