Botanical History
Excerpt from The Australian National Botanic Gardens Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research.
South Western Australia contains the greatest diversity of banksias, with 60 species recorded. They are also an important part of the flora of Australia’s Eastern Coast.
Few banksias are found in the arid regions of Australia or in the rainforests of the Eastern Coast. The flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together in pairs. The colour of the flower heads usually ranges from yellow to red. Many species flower over Autumn and Winter.
The fruits of banksias (called follicles) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (they are not true cones as these are produced only by conifers).
The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out.