As autumn turns to winter the flowering season of Saw-tooth Banksia (Banksia prionotes) winds down. The orange flowers were particularly spectacular in the bushland at Lake Gwelup Reserve in the past few weeks.
Carnaby’s Black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) eat the seed and nectar of banksias and during flowering season there’s often chewed flowers strewn about below this stand of Saw-tooth Banksia. Black cockatoos are messy feeders and this can help the plant. When eating a banksia cone they will chew some of it to get seed, then throw the rest on the ground. The seed they miss can then grow.
While many banksia species survive fire and the heat helps release seed from the cone , Saw-tooth Banksia is the exception. It’s the only tree banksia endemic to Perth killed by fire . Seed may germinate at any other time which leads to thick stands of many trees such as at Lake Gwelup.
Scientific name Banksia prionotes
Common name Saw-tooth Banksia, Acorn Banksia
There are a number of banksia species with orange flowers that are white in bud. Saw-tooth Banksia is the only one endemic to the Perth region, mainly north of the Swan River. Its range continues as far north as Shark Bay and some places in the Wheatbelt .
Growth habit compact, upright tree up to 10m
Florabase record http://florabase.com/browse/profile/1842
- Powell (2009) Leaf and Branch: Trees and Tall Shrubs of Perth. 2nd ed. DEC: Perth
- Thiele, Kevin (2007) “WA’s National Parks: Home to a Noah’s Ark of Flora” Landscope, vol.23, no.1, p.32-38.