Banksia cunninghamii
Sieber ex Rchb. Hairpin BanksiaErect shrub to c. 5 m high; lignotuber absent; bark thin, brown; branchlets finally glabrescent. Leaves scattered, linear or narrowly oblanceolate, 2–7 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, discolorous, upper surface green, more or less glabrous, lower surface pale brown, tomentose; apex mucronate; margins entire except for a few teeth towards apex, recurved to revolute; petiole 1–3 mm long. Inflorescence 10–20 cm long, 6–7 cm wide at anthesis. Tepals 20–30 mm long, golden-yellow, hairy, persistent in fruit; style hooked below apex, usually purplish-black, pale yellowish at base (rarely entirely yellow), deciduous. Follicles to c. 100, 10–24 mm long, crowded, finally glabrescent except at base; opening with or without fire. Body of seed c. semi-elliptic, 6–10 mm long, wing to c. 20 mm long. Flowers mainly Apr.–Jul.
GipP, CVU, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, Strz, VAlp. Also Qld, NSW. Apart from isolated western occurrences at Mt Clay near Portland and Point Lonsdale, apparently confined to foothill open-forests and heathy woodlands of eastern Victoria on and south of the Great Dividing Range. Although it can be locally common in parts of its range, certain populations have declined due to over-frequent fire events. Spatial data suggest declines in populations across upto 30% of the species’ range in East Gippsland, with additional declines likely over the next decade as fires reoccur in this area (Muir et al. 2020).
Banksia cunninghamii is part of the Banksia spinulosa species complex that has a wide distribution across the east coast of Australia. Morphological variation in the species complex was quantified by Stimpson et al. (2016). Genomic work by Wilson et al. (2022) found two major clades that align with B. cunninghamii and B. spinulosa. B. cunninghamii differs from B. spinulosa in lacking a lignotuber, and having leaves 2–5 mm wide (cf. 1.5–2.5 mm wide in B. spinulosa).
Muir, A., Bluff, A., Moloney, P., Amos, N. & Thompson, J. (2020). Hairpin Banksia: a widespread plant threatened with decline by frequent fires. Australasian Plant Conservation 29(1): 9–11.
Stimpson, M.L., Weston, P.H., Whalley, R.D.B. & Bruhl, J.J. (2016). A morphometric analysis of the Banksia spinulosa complex (Proteaceae) and its complex taxonomic implications. Australian Systematic Botany 29 (1): 55–86.
Wilson, T.C., Rossetto, M., Bain, D., Yap, J.-Y. S., Wilson, P.D., Stimpson, M.L., Weston, P.H. & Croft, L. (2022). A turn in species conservation for hairpin banksias: demonstration of oversplitting leads to better management of diversity. American Journal of Botany 109 (10): 1652–1671.