Banksia ser. Dryandroideae facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banksia ser. Quercinae |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| B. dryandroides (Dryandra-leaved Banksia), the type species of B. ser. Dryandroideae. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Series: |
B. ser. Dryandroideae
Meisn.
|
Banksia ser. Dryandroideae is a special group of plants within the larger Banksia genus. In science, these groups are called "taxonomic series." This particular group was first described by a scientist named Carl Meissner in 1856. Over time, the way this group is defined has changed. Today, it's a "monotypic" group, which means it contains only one type of plant: the Banksia dryandroides.
Meissner's Original Grouping
In 1856, Carl Meissner published his ideas about how to group Banksia plants. He included B. ser. Dryandroideae in his book about the Proteaceae plant family. He divided a larger group called Eubanksia into four smaller series.
Meissner decided which plants belonged to Dryandroideae based on their leaves. He put plants with deeply divided leaves into this series. However, because he only looked at leaves, his groups sometimes included plants that weren't very closely related.
Here are some of the plants Meissner included in his B. ser. Dryandroideae:
Meissner's way of organizing Banksia was used until 1870. Then, another botanist, George Bentham, created his own system and didn't use Meissner's series.
Alex George's New Arrangement
In 1981, Alex George, a well-known botanist, published a major study on Banksia. He didn't agree with Meissner's broad definition of B. ser. Dryandroideae. However, he noticed that Banksia dryandroides was quite unique. He thought it was special enough to have its own series.
So, George brought back the name B. ser. Dryandroideae. But this time, it only contained B. dryandroides. He placed it in a section called B. sect. Oncostylis, which included Banksia species with hooked styles (a part of the flower). Since Meissner hadn't chosen a specific "type species" for the series, George officially named B. dryandroides as the lectotype. This means it's the official example for the series.
Here's how George's system placed B. ser. Dryandroideae:
- Banksia
- B. subg. Banksia
- B. sect. Oncostylis
- B. ser. Spicigerae
- B. ser. Tricuspidae
- B. ser. Dryandroideae
- B. sect. Oncostylis
- B. subg. Banksia
In 1996, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges created another new way to arrange Banksia plants. They used a method called cladistics, which looks at how different species are related through evolution. Their studies showed that B. dryandroides was a "sister" (closest relative) to a group that included B. ser. Abietinae and B. tricuspis. This finding supported George's idea of keeping B. dryandroides in its own series. So, they kept B. ser. Dryandroideae as a group with only B. dryandroides in it.
Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement was used until 1999. Then, Alex George published another revision for the Flora of Australia book series. This new arrangement was similar to his 1981 system. It also kept B. ser. Dryandroideae as a group with just B. dryandroides.
New Discoveries and Changes
Since 1998, a scientist named Austin Mast has been studying Banksia using DNA sequence data. His research is helping us understand the family tree of Banksia plants even better. These new findings might change how B. ser. Dryandroideae is classified in the future.
In 2007, Mast and Thiele began to rearrange Banksia again. They moved the Dryandra genus into Banksia. They also created a new subgroup called B. subg. Spathulatae for species with spoon-shaped cotyledons (the first leaves of a seedling). B. dryandroides fits into this new subgroup. Mast and Thiele plan to publish a complete new arrangement once they finish studying the DNA of all Dryandra species.
