Banksia saxicola

Banksia saxicola grows as a tall upright tree to high at Wilsons Promontory, or as a sprawling shrub in the Grampians. The thick bark is brown on younger plants and grey—and often covered with lichen—on older plants. The leathery dark green leaves are roughly oval and measure long by wide. They are arranged in whorls along the stems on long petioles. The flowering period is from January to March, with some occasional late flowers in May. The cylindrical flower spikes, known as inflorescences, arising from two- to six-year-old branches. They are high and wide at anthesis. Flower parts fall off the ageing spikes, leaving them bare. They swell and develop 20 to 60 follicles that are covered in fine fur and open only when burnt in fire. ==Taxonomy==

Long held to be a form of Banksia integrifolia, Banksia saxicola was formally described by Alex George in his 1981 monograph of the genus Banksia. The species name is derived from the Latin words 'rock' and verb 'inhabit' or 'grow in'. The type specimen was collected from the summit of Mount William in the Grampians on 17 February 1977. A 2013 molecular study by Marcel Cardillo and colleagues using chloroplast DNA and combining it with earlier results reaffirmed B. saxicola and B. marginata as each other's closest relatives, and that B. integrifolia was the next closest relative. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae for the taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledons; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking spoon-shaped cotyledons. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete. In the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. saxicola is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae. ==Distribution and habitat==

In The Grampians, Banksia saxicola grows on exposed summits and slopes as well as gullies in scrub or woodland on a loamy soil, generally among sandstone boulders, with such species as brown stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri). Plants have been recorded on Mt William, Major Mitchell Plateau, Mt Lubra, Mt Rosea, Mt Difficult, Stony Peak, Mt Thackeray and Chimney Pots Gap. The northernmost populations are on the margins of Mt Difficult Plateau, 9 km southeast of Wartook. It is found at altitudes above . It is found in taller forest at altitudes of at Wilsons Promontory. ==Ecology==

Banksia saxicola plants are killed by bushfire and regenerate from seed. Birds observed visiting flower spikes of B. saxicola include the New Holland honeyeater and crescent honeyeater. ==Cultivation==

Banksia saxicola adapts readily to cultivation, particularly in cooler climates, and has been grown outside in the United Kingdom, Tasmania and at Lees in the Netherlands. Its attractive foliage and furry follicles (which can look as if snowed on) are its horticultural features. It flowers in 3 to 4 years from seed. ==References==