Botany Student Proves New England Banksia is a Distinct Species

Posted on August 31, 2012

Margaret Stimpson, a botany student at the University of New England, has proven that New England Banksia is a distinct species. The New England Banksia is largely restricted to the eastern edge of the New England Tableland, and is common in places along Waterfall Way. Stimpson's research has raised this flowering plant, until now classified as a variety of the Hairpin Banksia (B. spinulosa), to the taxonomic level of a distinct species. The new species is named Banksia neoanglica.

Stimpson says, "I love the Proteaceae - the family of flowering plants that includes the Banksia and Grevillea genera in Australia and Protea in South Africa. Surprisingly, molecular evidence in recent years has shown the family's closest relatives are the Sacred Lotus and the plane trees. Species of Banksia survive in poor soil and still manage to produce marvellous flowers."

Margaret established the species rank of the New England Banksia by detailed studies of its leaves, flowers, stem and fruit, and considerations of its ecology and distribution. She explained that it has two growth forms, the more common being a multi-stemmed small shrub with many flowers but few seeds. This form occurs where there has been regular burning, and the seeds need exposure to fire to open. The less common form, found where burning has not occurred, is a single-stemmed tree with many flowers and many seeds that open spontaneously without exposure to fire.

The research paper can be found here in the journal PhytoKeys.

PLANTS