Banksia telmatiaea

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Swamp Fox Banksia
Banksia telmatiaea, the Swamp Fox Banksia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Proteales Family: Proteaceae Genus: Banksia Species: B. telmatiaea
Binomial name
Banksia telmatiaea A.S.George

Banksia telmatiaea, the Swamp Fox Banksia, is a shrub that grows in marshes and swamps along the lower west coast of Australia. It grows as a bush up to two metres (7 ft) tall, with narrow leaves and a pale brown flower spike. It has been known of since the 1840s, but was not published as a species until 1981, having previously been included in B. sphaerocarpa (Fox Banksia). A relatively unstudied species, little is known of its ecology, conservation status and cultivation potential.

Contents 1 Description 2 Taxonomy 3 Distribution and habitat 4 Ecology 5 Conservation 6 Cultivation 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Description

B. telmatiaea grows as an upright or sprawling bush usually less than a metre (3 ft) tall, but sometimes up to two metres (7 ft) tall. It has hairy stems and branchlets, and straight, narrow leaves from 1½ to three centimetres (½–1 in) long and about a millimetre (¹⁄₁₆ in) wide. Flowers occur in typical Banksia "flower spikes", inflorescences made up of hundreds of pairs of flowers densely packed in a spiral round a woody axis. B. telmatiaea's flower spike is roughly spherical, with a diameter of three to five centimetres (1–2 in). Flowers are golden brown to pale brown, and consist of a tubular perianth made up of four fused tepals, and one long wiry style. Characteristic of the taxonomic section in which it is placed, the styles of B. telmatiaea are hooked rather than straight. The style ends are initially trapped inside the upper perianth parts, but break free at anthesis. The fruiting structure is a stout woody "cone" embedded with up to 65 follicles; old withered flower parts persist on the "cones", giving them a hairy appearance.^[1]

[edit] Taxonomy

See also: Taxonomy of Banksia

B. telmatiaea was first collected around 1840 by Ludwig Preiss and James Drummond. For many years it was included in B. sphaerocarpa, but by 1980 it was beingg referred to as Banksia aff. Sphaerocarpa in recognition of the fact that it is a distinct species.^[2] It was eventually published by Alex George in his 1981 monograph The Genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae), based on a specimen collected by him near Regans Ford on 14 May 1969. George gave it the specific name "telmatiaea" from the Greek stem telmat- (τελματ-), meaning "a pond" or "the mud of a pond";^[3] hence "of a marsh".^[4] Thus the full name for the species is Banksia telmatiaea A.S.George.^[5]

George placed B. telmatiaea in Banksia subg. Banksia because its inflorescence takes the form of Banksia's characteristic flower spike; Banksia sect. Oncostylis because it has hooked styles; and Banksia ser. Abietinae because its inflorescence is roughly spherical. He considered its closest relative to be B. leptophylla (Slender-leaved Banksia), which differs from B. telmatiaea in having longer leaves and larger flowers. In 1996, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges published an alternative arrangement based on their cladistic analysis of the genus. They agreed with George in placing B. telmatiaea in series Abietinae, but placed B. scabrella (Burma Road Banksia) between B. telmatiaea and B. leptophylla. They also further divided Abietinae into four subseries, placing B. telmatiaea, B. scabrella, B. leptophylla and B. lanata (Coomallo Banksia) in Banksia subser. Leptophyllae.^[6] This arrangement was not accepted by George in his 1999 monograph for the Flora of Australia series.^[1]

Under George's taxonomic arrangement of Banksia, B. telmatiaea placement may be summarised as follows:^[1]

Genus Banksia

Subgenus Banksia

Section Banksia

Section Coccinea

Section Oncostylis

Series Spicigerae

Series Tricuspidae

Series Dryandroidae

Series Abietinae

B. sphaerocarpa - B. micrantha - B. grossa - B. telmatiaea - B. leptophylla - B. lanata - B. scabrella - B. violacea - B. incana - B. laricina - B. pulchella - B. meisneri - B. nutans

Subgenus Isostylis

In 2005, Austin Mast, Eric Jones and Shawn Havery published the results of their cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for Banksia. They inferred a phylogeny very greatly different from the accepted taxonomic arrangement, including finding Banksia to be paraphyletic with respect to Dryandra.^[7] A new taxonomic arrangement was not published at the time, but early in 2007 Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement by transferring Dryandra to Banksia, and publishing B. subg. Spathulatae for the species having 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. telmatiaea is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.^[8]

[edit] Distribution and habitat

B. telmatiaea grows only on the Swan Coastal Plain, inland from the coast but never east of the Darling Scarp. It occurs from Hill River near Badgingarra in the north, to Serpentine in the south. Most populations occur north of Moore River or south of Cannington, there being only a few scattered populations in between.^[9]

The species favours lowland areas that are wet in winter, such as swamps and marshes. It is found on deep grey sandy loam, or shallower sand overlying claypan. It grows amongst scrub or sometimes in low woodland of trees such as B. littoralis (Swamp Banksia) or Melaleuca preissiana (Moonah).^[9][10]

[edit] Ecology

See also: Ecology of Banksia

Like most other Proteaceae, B. telmatiaea has proteoid roots, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in low-nutrient soils such as the phosphorus-deficient native soils of Australia. Plants generally do not survive bushfire, as the species lacks a lignotuber. However, like most Banksia species it is adapted to release its aerial bank of seeds following a bushfire, and so regenerates rapidly.^[11]

B. telmatiaea flowers from May to August. It produces copious amounts of nectar, providing food for a range of potential pollinators. Four species of bird have been observed visiting the flowers: the Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata),^[9] the Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), the New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae) and the Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta). Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) are also commonly observed, and visits by ants and Hylaeus plasterer bees have been recorded. Nectarivorous mammals have not been recorded, but probably play a role in pollination, as studies of other Banksia species have consistently demonstrated their involvement. Moreover, the occurrence in B. telmatiaea of inflorescences hidden within the foliage close to the ground is claimed to be an adaptation to pollination by small mammals.^[10]

B. telmatiaea is one of five Banksia species, all closely related to B. sphaerocarpa, that have highly unusual flower nectar. Whereas other Banksia species produce nectar that is clear and watery, the nectar of these species is pale yellow initially, but gradually becomes darker and thicker, changing to a thick, olive-green mucilage within one to two days of secretion, and eventually becoming "an almost black, gelatinous lump adhering to the base of the flowers".^[2] It was first noted in 1980 by Byron Lamont, who attributed it to cyanobacteria that feed off the nectar sugars. Noting that many of these cyanobacteria had heterocysts, he speculated that they aid the plant by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, which is then washed off the flower heads by rain, and absorbed by the proteoid root mat. This purported symbiosis was investigated by Barrett and Lamont in 1985, but no evidence of nitrogen fixing was found.^[12] Further investigation by Markey and Lamont in 1996 suggested that the discolouration is not caused by cyanobacteria or other microorganisms in the nectar, but is rather "a chemical phenomenon of plant origin". Their preliminary analyses indicated that the nectar had unusually high levels of sugar and free amino acids.^[13] Chemical analysis of B. telmatiaea nectar has shown it to have normal nectar sugar compositions,^[14] albeit in high concentrations.^[10]

[edit] Conservation

Little is known of the conservation status of B. telmatiaea. Its proximity to Perth suggests that land clearing for urban development could pose a threat. In 1988 The Banksia Atlas recommended that "the species should continue to be monitored since land clearing could change the situation greatly, particularly amongst its northern populations." Despite this advice, no surveys of the species have been published since. Information about the species' susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback has not been published, but other members of the Abietinae are highly susceptible.^[15] In 1987, George applied the Rare or Threatened Australian Plants (ROTAP) criteria to the species, determining it to have a conservation status of "3R": a rare species found only in small populations, but not considered endangered or vulnerable.^[11] [Western Australia]]'s Department of Environment and Conservation do not consider it to be threatened, however, and have not given it a rating under their system of Conservation Codes for Western Australian Flora.^[16]

[edit] Cultivation

B. telmatiaea is rarely cultivated. It grows fairly quickly, but tends to become untidy as it ages. The flower spikes, though attractive, occur within the bush where they are usually obscured by foliage. In its natural habitat it flowers prolifically over several months, but according to George it may be reluctant to flower in cultivation. It tolerates light pruning not below the green foliage. George recommends a sunny position in poorly drained soil, preferably with moisture in winter.^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Banksia telmatiaea. Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
• Banksia telmataea. FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia.