 The response of Banksia marginata to fire is variable. In the Gibraltar Range and Sydney regions, plants are killed by fire and regenerate from seed. They are serotinous, storing their seed in old cones, forming a seedbank in their canopy which is released after bushfire. A field study found that seeds were dispersed short distances (generally 8 m [26 ft] or less), with those closest to the parent plant faring the best. In Little Desert National Park in northwestern Victoria and also eastern south Australia, it grows as a low shrub which suckers (shoots growing from lateral roots) after fire. Plants do not appear to live longer than 25 years; after this time the ageing plants begin to die and are succeeded by younger plants arising from suckers around the parent. A field study in Gippsland found counting the nodes of Banksia marginata plants to be accurate in indicating age within a year up to 21 years since the last fire. There is anecodotal evidence of plants reaching 150 years old in this region. Plant species from communities dependent on fire are thought to self-select to be more flammable; Banksia marginata tested from a dry sclerophyll community in southeastern Tasmania was shown to burn readily, and fire would spread easily through it.
