Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Banksia integrifolia
Common name
Coast banksia (subsp. integrifolia). Mountain banksia (subsp. monticola)
Family
Proteaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, shrubland, and coastal clffs and dunes.
subsp. integrifolia: Mainly coastal. Occasionally elsewhere.
subsp. monticola: Blue Mountains and north.
Notes
Tree to 25 m high or a prostrate shrub. Bark roughly tessellated, platy, or fissured, grey-brown, and thick. Branchlets striate, densely hairy when young, becoming hairless. Older stems with prominent lenticels. Leaves whorled, 4–20 cm long, 10–35 mm wide, margins entire or occasionally with a few short teeth, lower surface white-hairy, midrib and secondary veins rusty-hairy becoming hairless but remaining brownish, tips pointed or blunt. Flower heads 50–120 mm long, of many flowers. Individual flowers pale yellow, with 4 'petals' each 22–29 mm long, splitting to the base when the flowers are fully open. Style straight or slightly curved, pale yellow, not remaining on mature cones. Cones 50–120 mm long. Flowers most of the year. Seeds with one wing.
subsp. integrifolia: Adult leaves usually 4–10 cm long, 17–25 mm wide, more or less flat, tips blunt to pointed, upper surface dull green.
subsp. monticola: Leaves usually 10–13 cm long, 10–18 mm wide, margins more or less wavy, upper surface shiny green.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Banksia~integrifolia (accessed 30 April 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
