page_title: Banksia aculeata
section_title: Taxonomy
hierarchical_section_title: Banksia aculeata / Taxonomy
caption_attribution_description: English: Banksia aculeata along Red Gum Pass Rd, Stirling Range National Park, WA
context_page_description: Banksia aculeata, commonly known as prickly banksia, is a species of plant of the family Proteaceae native to the Stirling Range in the southwest of Western Australia. A shrub up to 2 m tall, it has dense foliage and leaves with very prickly serrated margins. Its unusual pinkish, pendent flower spikes, known as inflorescences, are generally hidden in the foliage and appear during the early summer. Although it was collected by the naturalist James Drummond in the 1840s, Banksia aculeata was not formally described until 1981, by Alex George in his monograph of the genus.
  A rare plant, Banksia aculeata is found in gravelly soils in elevated areas. Native to a habitat burnt by periodic bushfires, it is killed by fire and regenerates from seed afterwards. In contrast to other Western Australian banksias, it appears to have some resistance to the soil-borne water mould Phytophthora cinnamomi.
context_section_description: Banksia aculeata was first collected by James Drummond on one of his three trips to the Stirling Range between 1843 and 1848, though he did not regard it as distinct from B. caleyi—this was only recognised over a century later by Alex George. George described B. aculeata in his 1981 monograph "The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)". For the type of the species, George selected a specimen he collected on Chester Pass Road in the Stirling Range east of Cranbrook on 20 March 1972. He gave it the specific epithet aculeata (Latin for "sharp"), in reference to the sharply pointed leaf lobes.
  George placed B. aculeata in B. subg. Banksia because its inflorescence is a typical Banksia flower spike; in B. sect. Banksia because of its straight styles; and B. ser. Tetragonae because of its pendulous inflorescences. He considered its closest relative to be B. caleyi, from which it differs in having narrower leaves with fewer, larger lobes; longer perianths, which grade from red to cream rather than from cream to red; shorter pistils; and also differences in the follicles, seeds and flowering time.
  In 1996, Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges published the results of a cladistic analysis of morphological characters of Banksia. They retained George's subgenera and many of his series, but discarded his sections. George's B. ser. Tetragonae was found to be monophyletic, and therefore retained; and their analysis of the relationships within the series supported the placement of B. aculeata alongside B. caleyi.
  B. aculeata's placement in Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement may be summarised as follows:
  Banksia
  B. subg. Isostylis (3 species)
  B. elegans (incertae sedis)
  B. subg. Banksia
  B. ser. Tetragonae
  B. elderiana
  B. lemanniana
  B. caleyi
  B. aculeata
  The arrangement of Thiele and Ladiges was not accepted by George and was discarded in his 1999 revision.
  Under George's 1999 arrangement, B. aculeata's placement was as follows:
  Banksia
  B. subg. Banksia
  B. sect. Banksia
  B. ser. Salicinae (11 species, 7 subspecies)
  B. ser. Grandes (2 species)
  B. ser. Banksia (8 species)
  B. ser. Crocinae (4 species)
  B. ser. Prostratae (6 species, 3 varieties)
  B. ser. Cyrtostylis (13 species)
  B. ser. Tetragonae
  B. lemanniana
  B. caleyi
  B. aculeata
  Since 1998, Austin Mast has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae. His analyses suggest a phylogeny that is rather different from previous taxonomic arrangements, but support the placement of B. aculeata alongside B. caleyi in a clade corresponding closely with B. ser. Tetragonae. A 2013 molecular study by Marcel Cardillo and colleagues using chloroplast DNA and combining it with earlier results found that B. aculeata was sister to B. lemanniana and that B. caleyi was the next closest relative.
  Early in 2007 Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement by transferring Dryandra to Banksia, and publishing B. subg. Spathulatae for the species having spoon-shaped cotyledons; in this way they also redefined the autonym B. subg. Banksia. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete; in the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. aculeata is placed in B. subg. Banksia.
caption: Flower spikes in early bud stage
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 50D", "Image Orientation": "0", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:02:02 13:24:03", "Image Artist": "Photographer: Graham Zemunik", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "256", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8684", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9059", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:02:02 13:24:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:02:02 13:24:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "7", "EXIF ApertureValue": "45/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Partial", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "41", "EXIF SubSecTime": "26", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "26", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "26", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1083", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1600", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8560", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "792000/149", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1056000/199", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "024803e0fc5f5088b386ec18427f4d0b"}