page_title: Banksia spinulosa
section_title: Varieties
hierarchical_section_title: Banksia spinulosa / Taxonomy / Varieties
caption_attribution_description: Banksia cunninghamii - Lyrebird Dell Walk, near Leura photo - Cas Liber - April 2004
context_page_description: The hairpin banksia is a species of woody shrub, of the genus Banksia in the family Proteaceae, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heathland from Victoria to northern Queensland, generally on sandstone though sometimes also clay soils. It generally grows as a small shrub to 2 metres in height, though can be a straggly tree to 6 metres. It has long narrow leaves with inflorescences which can vary considerably in coloration; while the spikes are gold or less commonly yellowish, the emergent styles may be a wide range of colours – from black, purple, red, orange or yellow.
  Banksia spinulosa was named by James Edward Smith in England in 1793, after being collected by John White, most likely in 1792. He gave it the common name prickly-leaved banksia, though this has fallen out of use. With four currently recognised varieties, the species has had a complicated taxonomic history, with two varieties initially described as separate species in the early 19th century. A fourth, from the New England region, has only recently been described.
context_section_description: Four varieties are currently recognised:
  B. spinulosa var. spinulosa
  The nominate race is an autonym, a name that was automatically created for the original material of the species as the other subspecies were described. The original hairpin banksia, this plant is coastal in Queensland, seen in such places as Walshs Pyramid (near Cairns), Byfield National Park and the Blackdown Tableland, then again in New South Wales south of the Hawkesbury River, just north of Sydney, down the New South Wales South Coast and into Victoria. Northwards of the Hawkesbury River on Sydney's northern outskirts there is a gradation between this and B. spinulosa var. collina. It commonly has black, maroon or claret styles on gold spikes but all-gold inflorescences are seen, and leaves are generally narrower than other varieties at 1–2 mm in width and have several serrations toward the apex only.
  B. spinulosa var. collina
  Known as the hill banksia, it was first published as Banksia collina by Robert Brown in 1810, and retained species rank until 1981, when George demoted it to a variety of B. spinulosa. It differs from B. spinulosa var. spinulosa in having broader leaves 3–8 mm in width that have serrate margins. The leaf undersides have more prominent venation. Its flower spikes are usually gold, or sometimes gold with red styles, especially in New South Wales. It is found in inland gorges and tablelands such as Carnarvon Gorge, Expedition National Park, Isla Gorge and Dicks Tableland in a remote part of Eungella National Park, in Central Queensland but coastal on the New South Wales Central- and north coast.
  B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii
  This variety was published as B. cunninghamii in 1827 in honour of the botanist Allan Cunningham, and demoted to a variety of B. spinulosa in 1981. The demotion has not been universally accepted however: in New South Wales it is still given species rank, and B. spinulosa var. neoanglica is considered a subspecies of it. George notes that at locations where both var. spinulosa and var. cunninghamii coexist, such as Fitzroy Falls in Lawson, no intermediate forms occur. This plant is a fast-growing nonlignotuberous shrub or small tree to 6 metres (20 feet) in height, occurring in the Great Dividing Range from southeast Queensland to southern New South Wales and also in Victoria. The juvenile leaves are highly serrated, new branchlets are hairy and leaf undersides are pale brown rather than white as in the two previous varieties. Inflorescences are gold with black styles, though an all-yellow form from Victoria is known. The linear to oblanceolate adult leaves are 2–10 cm (0.79–3.94 in) long by 2–7 mm wide; those from Victoria having markedly longer juvenile leaves, and larger cotyledons.
  B. spinulosa var. neoanglica
  Known as the New England banksia, it was published by Alex George in 1988, based on a specimen collected by him in 1986. In New South Wales it is considered an unnamed subspecies of Banksia cunninghamii. This plant is found in the New England Region of far northern New South Wales and Southeastern Queensland. It is a short lignotuberous shrub to 1 metre (3 ft) in height. Inflorescences are gold with black styles. It has hairy new branchlets and pale brown leaf undersides.
  Some doubt exists as to whether the current classification accurately represents relationships within the Banksia spinulosa complex. B. spinulosa var. collina is a form of inland gorges and tablelands in central Queensland, but is a coastal plant on the New South Wales central and north coast. B. spinulosa var. spinulosa, on the other hand, is coastal in central Queensland and in New South Wales south of Sydney. Similarly, B. spinulosa var. cunninghamii is widely separated between New South Wales and Victorian forms (where the longer leaved form was originally called B. prionophylla by Meissner). Notably both B. spinulosa var. spinulosa and B. spinulosa var. collina in northern Queensland have old spikes bare as opposed to them having persistent old flower parts in New South Wales and Victoria. Mast listed B. spinulosa var. collina
caption: var. cunninghamii, Lyrebird Dell walk, Leura, Blue Mountains
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