Banksia ilicifolia
Banksia ilicifolia, commonly known as holly-leaved banksia, is a tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to southwest Western Australia, it belongs to Banksia subg. Isostylis. It is generally a tree up to 10 metres tall with a columnar or irregular habit. Its leaves are a dark shiny green colour, and variously obovate, elliptic, truncate or undulate.
About Banksia ilicifolia in brief
Banksia ilicifolia, commonly known as holly-leaved banksia, is a tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to southwest Western Australia, it belongs to Banksia subg. Isostylis, a subgenus of three closely related Banksia species with inflorescences that are dome-shaped heads rather than characteristic Banksia flower spikes. It is generally a tree up to 10 metres tall with a columnar or irregular habit. Its leaves are a dark shiny green colour, and variously obovate, elliptic, truncate or undulate in shape, and 3–10 cm long. Unlike its close relatives which are killed by fire and repopulate from seed, Banksia iliifolia regenerates after bushfire by regrowing from epicormic buds under its bark. It has been confused with Banksia silis, which has been described as a ‘various’ of the same species. It usually grows as an erect tree upto 10 metres in height, but some populations along the south coast consist of small trees or even spreading shrubs. The inflorescence is initially yellow but become red-tinged with maturity; this acts as a signal to alert birds that the flowers have opened and nectar is available. The cotyledon leaves sit atop the stout hypocotyl, which is green and smooth. The first set of leaves measure to 2.5 cm in length, with triangular lobes or lance lance with three or four lobes in each margin.
The upper and undersurface of the leaves are initially covered in fine hairs but become smooth with maturity. The seedling leaves are crowded above the cotYledons. These lobes are smaller toward the apex and apex of the leaf and cover the upper and lower leaf surfaces in spreading, spreading, fine hairs. In the Margaret River region, the leaf surfaces are 5 cm wide by 3 cm wide by 1 1/2 to 3 1/4 cm in length. The leaves have no visible nerves or markings, they measure 8 to 13 mm long by 12 to 18 mm wide and range from convex to concave. The pointed spreading auricles are 1. 5 mm in diameter, and bear 60 to 100 individual flowers. One to three follicles develop from fertilised flowers, and remain embedded in the woody base of the flower head. Each follicle bears one or two seeds. New growth takes place mainly in summer. Young branchlets are covered in hair which they lose after two or three years, and are arranged in a scattered pattern along the stems although crowded at the apices. Resembling those of holly, its leaves are a dull green with no visible nerve or markings. They are lined with triangular Lobes or “teeth” separated by broad v- to u-shaped sinuses along each side, although some leaves have margins lacking teeth.
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This page is based on the article Banksia ilicifolia published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
