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for those of you who didn't come along this genus before, I'd like to introduce these fascinating plants to you. For sure among the most fascinating plants I have found in WA.
They belong to the Proteaceae family and are restricted to Australia, with a lot of lovely species in WA. They are extremely variable in habit - some species form real trees, most are shrubs, and with some there are only a few leaves coming directly out of the sand, and next to it emerges a huge flower bulb:
The flower bulbs consists of many hundreds or even thousands of single flowers, of which only a few get pollinated:
And those few pollinated flowers form big seeds, that give the outbloomed bulbs their typical appearance:
BTW, here one of its pollinators:
As variable as in growth habit, are the flower bulbs in shape and colour. Some form nearly round balls, some are elongated. In white, yellow, green, orange...
...and red! So here comes the queen of Banksia - Banksia coccinea:
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And finally an overview - Banksia at sundown, among another spectacular member of the Proteaceae - Hakea victoria, at East Mount Barren.
Hope you like it -
Martin
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