Banksia subser. Cratistylis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Banksia subser. Cratistylis |
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| Banksia menziesii (Firewood Banksia), the type species of B. subser. Cratistylis | |
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B. subser. Cratistylis
K.R.Thiele
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Banksia subser. Cratistylis is a scientific name for a group of Banksia plants. It was first suggested by a scientist named Kevin Thiele in 1996. However, another scientist, Alex George, decided not to use this grouping in 1999.
How Scientists Group Plants (Cladistics)
Scientists use a method called cladistics to understand how different living things are related. Think of it like building a family tree for plants! They look at shared features to group plants together.
Kevin Thiele and another scientist, Pauline Ladiges, studied Banksia plants using cladistics. Their research showed a slightly different "family tree" than what was commonly accepted at the time. They found a large group of Banksia species that included plants from two older groups. This new large group then split into two smaller groups:
- One group included:
- B. ornata (Desert Banksia)
- B. serrata (Saw Banksia)
- B. aemula (Wallum Banksia)
- The other group included:
Naming the Groups (Taxonomy)
Based on their cladistics study, Thiele and Ladiges decided to create new scientific groupings. They kept the large group of Banksias as B. ser. Banksia.
Then, they divided this group into two smaller subseries. The first subseries was called B. subser. Banksia, which included the first three species listed above.
The second subseries was named B. subser. Cratistylis. This group included the other nine species. These plants often have strong, smooth styles (a part of the flower). The name "Cratistylis" comes from Greek words meaning "strong" (kratys) and "style" (stylos). The B. menziesii (Firewood Banksia) is a good example of a plant in this group.
Here are some of the Banksia species that Thiele and Ladiges placed in B. subser. Cratistylis:
- B. candolleana
- B. sceptrum
- B. baxteri
- B. speciosa
- B. menziesii
- B. burdettii
- B. victoriae
- B. hookeriana
- B. prionotes
However, this way of grouping Banksias didn't last long. In 1999, Alex George published his own updated classification of Banksia plants. He looked at some of Thiele and Ladiges' findings but decided not to use their overall arrangement, including the B. subser. Cratistylis group.
New Discoveries
Since 1998, a scientist named Austin Mast has been doing new cladistics studies. He uses DNA information from Banksia plants. His research suggests that the way plants were grouped in B. subser. Cratistylis might not be entirely correct.
For example, his studies show that B. baxteri and B. speciosa seem to be more closely related to B. coccinea (Scarlet Banksia). The other species from B. subser. Cratistylis appear to be related to B. ashbyi and B. lindleyana.
In 2007, Mast and Thiele started to rearrange the Banksia genus again. They are still working on a full new classification. This shows that science is always changing as new information is discovered!
