Banksia nana explained

Banksia nana, commonly known as dwarf dryandra, is a species of shrub that is endemic to a small area in the south-west of Western Australia. It has underground stems, pinnatipartite leaves with sharply-pointed lobes, pale green or yellow flowers and broadly egg-shaped follicles.

Description

Banksia nana is a shrub with short, hairy, underground stems and a small lignotuber. The leaves are pinnatipartite, long and wide on a petiole up to long. There are between ten and thirty-five sharply-pointed lobes on each side of the leaves. Between twelve and seventeen pale green or yellow flowers are arranged in a head on the ends of branches, with egg-shaped to lance-shaped involucral bracts up to long at the base of the head. The perianth is long and the pistil long and curved. Flowering occurs in October and the follicles are broadly egg-shaped, long.[1]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1855 by Carl Meissner who gave it the name Dryandra nana and published the description in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany from specimens collected by James Drummond.[2] [3] The specific epithet (nana) is a Latin word meaning "dwarf".[4] In 2007 Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all dryandras to the genus Banksia and renamed this species Banksia nana.[5] [6]

Distribution and habitat

Banksia nana grows in kwongan on low hills near Badgingarra in the Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions.

Conservation status

This banksia is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[7]

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: George . Alex S. . Flora of Australia . 17B . 1999 . Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra . Canberra . 349 . 17 May 2020.
  2. Web site: Dryandra nana. APNI. 17 May 2020.
  3. Meissner . Carl . Hooker . William J. . New Proteaceae of Australia . Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany . 1855 . 7 . 121 . 17 May 2020.
  4. Book: Francis Aubie Sharr . Francis Aubie Sharr . Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings . 2019 . Four Gables Press . Kardinya, Western Australia . 9780958034180 . 259.
  5. Mast . Austin R. . Austin Mast . Kevin . Thiele . Kevin Thiele . 2007 . The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae) . . 20 . 1 . 63–71 . 10.1071/SB06016.
  6. Web site: Banksia nana. APNI. 28 May 2020.
  7. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 17 May 2020.