Banksia insulanemorecincta explained

Banksia insulanemorecincta is a species of shrub that is endemic to a small region in the south-west of Western Australia. It is a bushy shrub with serrated, lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, heads of about fifty cream-coloured and dull brown flowers and hairy, elliptical follicles.

Description

Banksia insulanemorecincta is a bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of but does not form a lignotuber. It has lance-shaped leaves that are narrower towards the base, long and wide on a petiole up to long. There are between eight and eleven teeth up to long on each side of the leaves. Between forty and fifty flowers are arranged in each head with linear to tapering involucral bracts up to long at the base of the head. The flowers are cream-coloured and dull brown with a perianth long and a down-curved pistil long. Flowering occurs from June to September and the follicles that form later are elliptical, long.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

This banksia was discovered by Abe van de Sande, a West Australian government field officer. It was first formally described in 1999 by Alex George in Flora of Australia Volume 17B and given the name Dryandra insulanemorecincta from specimens he collected near Brookton in 1998.[2] The specific epithet (insulanemorecincta, pronounced 'in-soo-la-ne-mor-ay-sink-ta') is from the Latin words insula meaning "an island", nemus "a wood or forest" and cinctus "to girdle" referring to the unusual habitat of this species.

Distribution and habitat

Banksia insulanemorecincta is known from several population on the Darling Plateau near Brookton where it grows in islands of low heath, surrounded by jarrah forest.

Conservation status

This banksia is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that is rare or near threatened.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: George . Alex S. . Flora of Australia . 17B . 1999 . Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra . Canberra . 8 May 2020.
  2. Web site: Dryandra insulanemorecincta. APNI. 8 May 2020.
  3. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 8 May 2020.