''Banksia serra'', commonly known as serrate-leaved dryandra, is a species of 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. It has broadly linear, serrated leaves, pale yellow flowers in heads of about thirty and egg-shaped follicles.

Description

''Banksia serra'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of but does not form a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a respons ...

. It has slender stems and broadly linear leaves long and wide on a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

long. There are between eight and twenty broadly triangular serrations on each side of the leaves. Between twenty and thirty-six pale yellow flowers are arranged in heads with narrow egg-shaped to lance-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 each 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 more or less straight, 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 ...

is long with a green

pollen presenter A pollen-presenter is an area on the tip of the Stigma_(botany)#Style, style in flowers of plants of the family Proteaceae on which the Stamen#Morphology_and_terminology, anthers release their pollen prior to anthesis. To ensure pollination, the st ...

. Flowering occurs from July to October and the follicles are egg-shaped but curved, long.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 1830 by

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 ...

who gave it the name ''Dryandra serra'' and published the description in the '' Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae'' from specimens collected by William Baxter near

King George's Sound King George Sound ( Mineng ) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use from about ...

in 1829. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

(''serra'') is a Latin word meaning "saw", referring to the leaves. In 2007,

Austin Mast Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently a professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (FSU), and has been ...

and

Kevin Thiele Kevin R. Thiele is currently an adjunct associate professor at the University of Western Australia and the director of Taxonomy Australia. He was the curator of the Western Australian Herbarium from 2006 to 2015. His research interests include ...

transferred all the dryandras to the genus ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...

'' and this species became ''Banksia serra''.

Distribution and habitat

''Banksia serra'' grows in woodland, forest and mallee-

kwongan Kwongan is a plant community found in south-western Western Australia. The name is a Bibulman Aboriginal term of wide geographical use defined by Beard (1976) as Kwongan has replaced other terms applied by European botanists such as sand-h ...

from the

Bow River The headwaters of the Bow River in Alberta, Canada, start at the Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Rocky Mountains. The glacial stream that feeds Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake ...

Mount Manypeaks Mount Manypeaks is a distinctive mountain, peak located approximately north-east of Albany, Western Australia, Albany, north-east of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, Two Peoples Bay and south-east of the town of Manypeaks, Western Australia, ...

Ecology

An assessment of the potential impact of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

on this species found that its range is likely to contract by between 30% and 80% by 2080, depending on the severity of the change.

Conservation status

This banksia is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4856708 serra Plants described in 1830 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)