''Banksia nivea'', commonly known as honeypot dryandra,
is a species of rounded shrub that is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Western Australia. The
Noongar
The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...
peoples know the plant as bulgalla.
It has linear,
pinnatipartite leaves with triangular lobes, heads of cream-coloured and orange or red flowers and
glabrous, egg-shaped
follicles.
Description
''Banksia nivea'' is a rounded, much-branched shrub that typically grows to high and wide but does not form a
lignotuber. It has linear, pinnatipartite leaves that are long and wide on a
petiole long. There are between 45 and 85 triangular lobes on each side of the leaves. Between seventy and ninety cream-coloured and orange or red flowers are borne in head on the ends of branches with oblong to egg-shaped
involucral bracts
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale.
Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...
long at the base of the head. The
perianth
The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...
is long and the
pistil
Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...
long. Flowering occurs in April or from July to November and the follicles are egg-shaped, long and almost glabrous.
Taxonomy and naming
''Banksia nivea'' was first collected by
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...
in the vicinity of
Esperance Bay between 15 and 17 December 1792, during a search for the naturalist
Claude Riche, who had become lost on the Australian mainland.
Labillardière formally described and figured the species in ''
Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse,'' his account of the voyage published in 1800.
In 1810
Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author
Entertainers and artists
* Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer
* Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...
transferred it into a new genus, ''
Dryandra'' as ''D. nivea''.
In 1996,
Alex George described two subspecies of ''Dryandra nivea'':
* ''Dryandra nivea''
(Labill.) R.Br. var. ''nivea''
that has a pistil long and leaves wide;
* ''Dryandra nivea'' var. ''uliginosa''
A.S.George that has a pistil long and leaves wide.
In 2007
Austin Mast and
Kevin Thiele transferred all ''Dryandra'' species into ''Banksia'', reinstating Labillardière's ''Banksia nivea'' and renaming the two subspecies ''B. nivea''
Labill. subsp. ''nivea''
and ''B. nivea''
(A.S.George) A.R.Mast & K.R.Thiele subsp. ''uliginosa'',
the names accepted by the
Australian Plant Census
The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...
. A third subspecies (''B. nivea'' subsp. ''Morangup (M.Pieroni 9/42'') WA Herbarium) has been named but not yet formally described.
Distribution and habitat
Honeypot dryandra is widespread between Lake Indoon (near
Eneabba),
Ongerup and
Israelite Bay.
Subspecies ''nivea'' grows in woodland and
kwongan.
Subspecies ''uliginosa'' has a narrow distribution from east of
Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...
and on the
Scott River plain where it grows in thick scrub.
Ecology
Species of
nectarivorous birds that have been observed feeding on ''B. nivea'' include ''
Acanthorhynchus superciliosus'' (western spinebill). Black cockatoos have also been recorded feeding upon the seed, though it is not clear which species of black cockatoo was observed, ''
Calyptorhynchus baudinii'' (Baudin's black cockatoo) or ''
C. latirostris'' (Carnaby's black cockatoo).
Conservation status
Subspecies ''nivea'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government
Department of Parks and Wildlife,
but subsp. ''uliginosa'' is classified as "
Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the
Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27897796, from2=Q4856652
nivea
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Eudicots of Western Australia
Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière
Plants described in 1800