Banksia micrantha

Banksia micrantha grows as a spreading, bushy shrub up to high and wide and forms a lignotuber. Its branches are often horizontal and underground at first. It has hairy stems and sharply-pointed, linear leaves long and wide on a petiole long. The edges of the leaves are tightly rolled under. The flowers are pale yellow and arranged in a spike long with hairy involucral bracts long at the base of the head. The perianth is long and the pistil hooked and long. Up to twenty-five egg-shaped to elliptic follicles long high and wide form in each head, surrounded by the remains of the flowers. ==Taxonomy==

Banksia micrantha had been recorded since 1938, but considered part of a broad B. sphaerocarpa complex, until officially described in 1981 by Alex George in his monograph The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae). The specific epithet (micrantha) is from ancient Greek words meaning "small" and "flower". George placed B. micrantha in Banksia subgenus Banksia because of its characteristic Banksia flower spike, However, these changes were not accepted by Alex George in his authoritative 1999 contribution to the Flora of Australia series. ==Distribution and habitat==

Banksia micrantha grows in kwongan and occurs amongst heath on sand or sand over laterite on the gentle slopes of lateritic hills between Eneabba and Cervantes. ==Ecology==

This banksia is fire tolerant, resprouting from its lignotuber but the follicles also remain closed until after a bushfire, when the follicles open to release the seed. ==Conservation status==

Banksia micrantha is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. ==Use in horticulture==

Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 19 to 21 days to germinate. ==References==