Banksia foliolata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banksia foliolata |
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Banksia
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foliolata
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The Banksia foliolata is a special type of shrub. It grows only in Western Australia. This plant has fuzzy stems and unique leaves. Its flowers are cream-colored and maroon. They grow in groups of about sixty. After flowering, it produces oblong or oval-shaped seed pods. You can find this plant on rocky slopes. It grows in thick shrubland within the Stirling Range National Park.
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What Does Banksia foliolata Look Like?
This Banksia is a shrub that usually grows to be 1 to 3 meters (about 3 to 10 feet) tall. It does not have a special underground stem called a lignotuber. Its stems are covered in fine hairs. The leaves are long and narrow, like an oblong shape. They are between 60 and 200 mm (2.4 to 7.9 inches) long. The leaves are also 10 to 20 mm (0.4 to 0.8 inches) wide. Each leaf sits on a small stalk, called a petiole, which is 5 to 40 mm (0.2 to 1.6 inches) long.
The leaves have many egg-shaped lobes along their sides. There are usually between ten and thirty-five of these lobes on each side. The flowers grow in a cluster called a head. Each head has about fifty to sixty flowers. At the base of the flower head, there are small, protective leaves called involucral bracts. These can be up to 13 mm (0.5 inches) long.
Each flower has a cream-colored outer part, called a perianth, which is up to 17 mm (0.7 inches) long. The central part of the flower, the pistil, is 20 to 24 mm (0.8 to 0.9 inches) long. The top half of the pistil is maroon. This plant blooms from October to November. After the flowers, it forms oblong to oval-shaped seed pods. These pods are 11 to 14 mm (0.4 to 0.6 inches) long. They are hairy only on their upper half.
How Banksia foliolata Got Its Name
The Banksia foliolata was first officially described in 1830. A botanist named Robert Brown gave it the name Dryandra foliolata. He wrote about it in a book called Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae. This was based on plants collected by William Baxter in 1829. Baxter found them near King George's Sound.
Later, in 2007, two other scientists, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele, changed its name. They moved it into the Banksia group, so it became Banksia foliolata. The second part of its name, foliolata, comes from a Latin word. It means "leaved" or "leafy," which describes its distinctive leaves.
Where Banksia foliolata Lives
The Banksia foliolata grows in a specific area. It is found on rocky slopes. These slopes are in dense shrubland. All of its known habitat is within the Stirling Range National Park in Western Australia.
Protecting Banksia foliolata
The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife keeps track of rare plants. They have classified Banksia foliolata as "Priority Four." This means the plant is rare. It is also considered near threatened. This classification helps protect it and its habitat.
