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Useful Temperate Plants

Banksia serrata

L.f.

Proteaceae

+ Synonyms

Banksia aemula Sieber ex Meisn.

Banksia conchifera Gaertn.

Banksia media Hook.f.

Banksia mitis Knight

Banksia serrifolia Knight

Banksia undulata Lindl.

Isostylis serrata Britten

Sirmuellera serrata Kuntze

Common Name:

Banksia serrata
Cultivated tree at Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini, Genova Pegli, Italy
Photograph by: Hectonichus
Creative Commons License
Banksia serrata Banksia serrata Banksia serrata Banksia serrata Banksia serrata Banksia serrata

General Information

Banksia serrata is an evergreen tree that can grow up to 15 metres tall with a sparse, open crown, though it is often seen as a gnarled and stunted small tree with blackened rough bark as a result of surviving many bushfires. Sometimes, especially in exposed areas, it is no more than a shrub 1 - 3 metres tall[
286
Title
Flora of Australia
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
,
397
Title
Australian Native Plants Society
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://anpsa.org.au/index.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
].
The plant is harvested from the wild for its wood. It is often grown as an ornamental in gardens, parks, roadsides etc, especially within its native range. There are some named forms.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

286
Title
Flora of Australia
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.

Range

Australia - Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, southeast Queensland

Habitat

Consolidated coastal dunes and in sand over sandstone on the coastal plain and in the Blue Mountains; usually in woodland, but also as a low shrub in tall shrubland[
286
Title
Flora of Australia
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
].

Properties

Other Uses Rating *  *
HabitEvergreen Tree
Height7.00 m
PollinatorsBirds, Insects
Cultivation StatusOrnamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Banksia serrata is a plant of the temperate to subtropical zone of southeast Australia.
One of the easier species in the genus to cultivate, it requires a sunny position and a light, well-drained soil[
397
Title
Australian Native Plants Society
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://anpsa.org.au/index.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
]. The plant is only found on sandy soils in the wild.
The plant grows in areas where bushfires naturally occur at fairly frequent intervals. It has evolved mechanisms to allow it to survive this. Firstly, it has a thick bark that can insulate it from less intense fires; it can regrow from epicormic shoots, developing along the trunk about a week after the fire[
286
Title
Flora of Australia
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
]. In addition, the heat of a fire stimulates the seeds to be shed from the 'cone', allowing the seeds to germinate and become established in the newly cleared soil[
286
Title
Flora of Australia
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
,
397
Title
Australian Native Plants Society
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://anpsa.org.au/index.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
].
Plants can take several years to commence flowering from seed.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The wood is a purplish, mahogany colour with a coarse, open grain, strong, not liable to split with nailing. It can form a mottled figure in certain sections. Like other Banksia woods it requires to be seasoned very carefully. A handsome, remarkably coloured wood, it is used for window frames; for knees etc in boat and ship-building; and would make good furniture. It is, however, often bored by the larvae of coleopterous insects[
601
Title
The Useful Native Plants of Australia.
Publication
 
Author
Maiden J.H.
Website
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Publisher
Turner & Co.; London.
Year
1889
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details of the uses of many Australian plants and other species naturalised, or at least growing, in Australia. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
].

Propagation

Seed - surface sow in an ericaceous compost as soon as the seed is ripe or as soon as it is obtained and do not exclude light. Seal the pot in a plastic bag until germination takes place, which can take 1 - 3 months or more at 20°c[
134
Title
Growing from Seed. Volume 2.
Publication
 
Author
Rice. G. (Editor)
Publisher
Thompson and Morgan.
Year
1988
ISBN
-
Description
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in sand in a frame[
200
Title
The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
Publication
 
Author
Huxley. A.
Publisher
MacMillan Press
Year
1992
ISBN
0-333-47494-5
Description
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
]. The cuttings can be slow to form roots[
397
Title
Australian Native Plants Society
Publication
 
Author
 
Website
http://anpsa.org.au/index.html
Publisher
 
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
].
Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2024-03-28. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Banksia+serrata>

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