Today's photograph was contributed by a co-worker, Eric La Fountaine. If you participate on UBC Botanical Garden's discussion forums, you'll know Eric as a frequent contributor and helpful administrator.
Eric visited Australia last year, and snapped this photograph of bird's nest banksia (also known as woollybear banksia (or not, see comments)). Banksia baxteri grows natively in tall shrublands with sandy soils along the south coast of Western Australia. This region is one of the world's “biodiversity hotspots”.
We've successfully (if temporarily) grown species of Banksia at UBC, and to our knowledge, the flowers we saw on Banksia marginata in 2002 and 2003 were the first occasions that a Banksia has flowered in Canada. Sadly for us, the plants were tender to the harsh winter of early 2004 and have since died. That hasn't stopped Brent Hine from acquiring other banksias which he believes will be hardier - all in the spirit of science and horticultural experimentation.
Looks like the sun.
What a far out photograph!!! Looks as though it will shred or eat anything that comes neer it.To bad we can,t get plants/shrubs like these in ILLINOIS.
This photo shows the deeply serrated linear leaves characteristic of several Banksia species. Curiously the Canadian shrub Comptonia has remarkably similar leaves - a good example of parallel evolution.
I LOVE this site! I wonder if it's related to the Eucylptis (pardon my spelling)
i would love to try growing this where i live in del mar CA. i think the soil and climate might be right
Love these pictures & information about all these plants Wish I could grow them !
laura: No, it's not related to Eucalyptus, which is in the family Myrtaceae. Myrtaceae and Proteaceae are quite distantly related.
I love this flower, Banksia. Such a strange- and wonderful-looking flower.
Please note that the Flower of the day is not commonly known as the woolybear banksia (that name is reserved for the flower spikes of Banksia baueri).
The photo of the day does not really flatter the species as the individual floral parts (perianths styles & bracts) have not yet opened to show their full beauty.
For a comprehensive guide to all the banksias (with beautiful photos) see my book “A Field Guide to Banksias”, published in Australia.
Geoff, thanks for the comments. My reference for the “incorrect” common name was Illawara Grevillea Park. As you almost certainly know, common names are not reserved and can be applied willy-nilly, so it may indeed be that some people call this species by that name - but I agree with you, Banksia baueri is far more deserving of that common name than Banksia baxteri.
I'd be quite happy to follow-up this photograph with a photograph of yours showing the plant in full flower if you like!
Greetings! I have a Banksia baxteri growing in my front yard that I purchased at UCSC Arboretum , which specializes in Australian and South African flora, and English heathers, all which grow beautifully in Santa Cruz, California. My Banksia is one year old (since I planted it about two feet high) and has two perfect flowers and is about 3.5 feet high. It is my all time favorite plant-- in a gopher basket, of course! I think you could probably grow it in Del Mar, a similar climate, but warmer, especially in the winter. How big does it get, by the way?