page_title: Taxonomy of Banksia integrifolia
section_title: Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Taxonomy of Banksia integrifolia / Discovery
caption_attribution_description: This is a watercolour-on-paper drawing of Banksia integrifolia. It was drawn and at least partly coloured by Sydney Parkinson, Sir Joseph Banks' botanical artist who was present when the species was first collected at Botany Bay, Australia. It is not known whether the drawing was completed by Parkinson, or whether it was delivered unfinished for completion by one of the London artist employed by Banks for that purpose.
context_page_description: The taxonomy of Banksia integrifolia has a long and complex history, the result of confusion caused by the species' great variability, and similarities with some closely related species. The existence of hybrids between B. integrifolia and related species as well as early attempts to classify the species based on dried specimen material have also contributed to the confusion.
  The species is divided into three subspecies: B. i. subsp. compar, B. i. subsp. integrifolia, and B. i. subsp. monticola. Recent molecular studies support this division.
  Until recently, B. integrifolia's taxonomic placement within the genus was largely settled, with the species placed in Banksia subg. Banksia sect. Banksia ser. Salicinae. DNA analyses have now cast doubt upon this arrangement and the publication of a new arrangement based on phylogenetic considerations has been foreshadowed.
context_section_description: The first botanical collection of B. integrifolia was made by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, naturalists on the Endeavour during Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Cook landed on Australian soil for the first time on 29 April 1770, at a place that he later named Botany Bay in recognition of "the great quantity of plants Mr Banks and Dr Solander found in this place". Over the next seven weeks, Banks and Solander collected thousands of plant specimens, including the first specimens of a new genus that would later be named Banksia in Banks' honour.
  Every specimen collected during the Endeavour voyage was sketched by Banks' botanical illustrator Sydney Parkinson. On the Endeavour's return to England in July 1771, Banks' specimens became part of his London herbarium, and artists were employed to paint watercolours from Parkinson's sketches. Banks had plans to publish his entire collection as "Banks' Florilegium", but for various reasons the project was never completed, and it would be ten years before any of the Banksia species were formally published.
caption: B integrifolia from Banks' Florilegium.
exif: {"Image ExifOffset": "26"}