Banksia lindleyana
Banksia lindleyana, commonly known as the porcupine banksia, is a species of woody shrub in the genus "Banksia" of the family Proteaceae. It generally grows as a small shrub to 1 m (3 ft) high with long narrow serrated leaves, and bright yellow oval or round inflorescences. Flowering occurs in late summer, after which time the flower spikes age and turn to brown and then grey, and develop up to 70 follicles. It occurs in the vicinity of Kalbarri, Western Australia. Found on sandy soils, the plant serves as a pollinator for a variety of bird and animal  species. Description. "Banksia lindleyana" grows as a shrub up to tall. Young branches are densely felted with hairs, but these are lost with age, and eventually replaced with a deeply fissured grey bark. The leaves are low and narrow (4 to 13 cm long but only 0.4 to 1.2 cm wide), with serrated edges and a blunt apex; like the young branches, young leaves are felted with hairs, but these are lost with age, except in small pits on the underside. The flowering season is from January to March; flowers are yellow, and occur in a characteristic "Banksia" flower spike . Oval to spherical in shape, this is from 5 to 9 centimetres (2–4 in) long, and occurs on a short, lateral branchlet arising from an older branch. After flowering, the styles wither but do not fall, giving the infructescence a hairy appearance. Infructescences may contain up to 70 follicles, each with two small winged seeds. Taxonomy. Commonly known as the porcupine banksia, "Banksia lindleyana" was first published by Carl Meissner in 1855, based on material collected by James Drummond in 1850–1851 near the lower Murchison River. Meissner did not give an etymology for the specific epithet, but it is accepted  that the name honours John Lindley. Initially, Meissner's only comment on the affinities of the species was that When he published his taxonomic arrangement of "Banksia" the following year, in "B." ser "Salicinae" on account of its linear leaves with grey undersides, positioning it between "B. cylindrostachya" and "B. marginata". When George Bentham published his arrangement in 1870, he abandoned Meissner's series, which were based on leaf characters and therefore unacceptably heterogeneous. Instead he erected four sections, placing "B. lindleyana" in "B." sect. "Orthostylis" (now "B." ser. "Banksia") because the styles, after they have been released from the  perianth, are curved only at the base, and are otherwise, straight, rigid and erect. The species was positioned between "B. caleyi" and "B. elegans". In 1891, Otto Kuntze, in his "Revisio Generum Plantarum", rejected the generic name "Banksia" L.f., on the grounds that the name "Banksia" had previously been published in 1776 as "Banksia" J.R.Forst & G.Forst, referring to the genus now known as "Pimelea". Kuntze proposed "Sirmuellera" as an alternative, referring to this species as "Sirmuellera lindleyana". This application of the principle of priority was largely ignored by Kuntze's contemporaries, and "Banksia" L.f. was formally conserved and "Sirmuellera" rejected  in 1940. In 1981, Alex George published "The genus "Banksia" L.f. (Proteaceae)", which presented the first taxonomic revision of "Banksia" for over a century. In George's taxonomic arrangement, "B. lindleyana" was placed in "B." ser. "Cyrtostylis", which was defined as containing those members of "B." sect. "Banksia" with slender flowers, a small pollen-presenter, and beaked follicles. The species was placed near the middle of the series, between "B. attenuata" and "B. ashbyi", but George also acknowledged that some characters that were not typical of the series: an unusually large pollen-presenter, and some characters similar to those of  B. ser. "Tetragonae". George's arrangement stood unchallenged until 1996, when Kevin Thiele and Pauline Ladiges published their revised arrangement based on a cladistic analysis of the genus. They found George's "B." ser. "Cyrtostylis" to be highly polyphyletic, and transferred a number of taxa into other series. "B. lindleyana" resolved as one of the most basal species of "B." subg. "Banksia", after "B. elegans" and a small clade consisting of "B. elderiana" and "B." ser. "Tetragonae". Accordingly, it was placed alone in a new series, "B." ser. "Lindleyanae", which was placed between "B." ser. "Tetragonae" and "B." ser. "Banksia . Thiele and Ladiges' arrangement remained current only until 1999, when George's treatment of the genus for the Flora of Australia" series of monographs was published. George's 1999 arrangement was essentially a revision of his 1981 arrangement, which took into account some of Thiele and Ladiges' data, but rejected their overall arrangement. Despite George describing "B." ser. "Cyrtostylis" as "a rather heterogeneous series", his 1981 circumscription was restored with minimal changes, the most significant being the relocation of "B. lindleyana" to the end of the series, in recognition of the species' relationship with "B." ser. "Tetragonae": 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 very greatly different from George's arrangement, with "B. lindleyana" appearing in a clade with "B. menziesii", "B. ashbyi" and "B. sceptrum". A 2013 molecular study by Marcel Cardillo and colleagues using chloroplast DNA and combining it with earlier results reaffirmed "B. lindleyana" as an offshoot of a lineage that gave rise to "B. ashbyi" and "B. sceptrum". Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele initiated a rearrangement of "Banksia" by merging "Dryandra" into it, and publishing  B. subg. "Spathulatae" for the taxa 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. lindleyana" is placed in "B." subg. "Banksia". Among the "Dryandra" species transferred into "Banksia" by Mast and Thiele was "Dryandra lindleyana"; as the specific epithet "lindlayana" was already taken, "D. lindleyana" was given the name "Banksia dallanneyi", the new specific epithet being an anagram of "lindleyana". Distribution and  habitat. "B. lindleyana" mostly occurs on the Geraldton Sandplains north of Geraldton toward Shark Bay, but there is also a collection from well inland, on the western edge of the Murchison region. It grows in shrubland on deep yellow sand, in the swales of coastal dunes and inland on flat sandplain. Cultivation. "Banksia lindleyana" has horticultural appeal in its attractive flowers and flower buds, and its woody fruiting cones may be carved. It fares best in a sunny location in deep calcareous sand, and grows well in Perth soils, although not so well in cooler climates. It is a slow  growing plant, and flowers in 6–8 years from seed. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 23 to 39 days to germinate.