A specimen of the botany of New Holland/Banksia spinulosa
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Common receptacle elongated, scaly. Cor. of 4 petals. Stamina inserted into the limb. Capsule with two valves, two seeds, and a moveable partition between them.
Leaves linear, revolute, with a little sharp point, and with spinous denticulations towards the top.
THIS hitherto non-descript species of Banksia has a woody branched stem, the branches commonly three or more together, curved upwards. Leaves irregularly scattered, closely covering the branches, on very short footstalks, but little spreading, from an inch and half to two inches in length, linear, very narrow, revolute in the margin, green and smooth above, white and downy beneath, ending very abruptly, tipped with three little spines, and having several of the same kind hooked upwards, in the margin, particularly towards the top. The young leaves are very downy. Flowers thick set in a cylindrical erect spike, arising from the divarications of the branches. Their common receptacle is cyclindrical, rather obtuse, covered with closely imbricated downy scales, some of the lowermost of which terminate in a long downy pointed arista, and from among the rest the flowers come out in pairs. The structure of the flower is well expressed in the annexed plate. We suspect the fruit figured in Mr. White's Voyage, page 225, fig. i, may belong to this species, but we have no positive authority to assert it.
Our Banksia spinulosa differs from B. ericæfolia of Linnæus (Herb. Linn.) in having leaves at least four times as long, obtuse, but with a small central sharp point from the mid-rib between the other two terminal points, as well as in having a greater or lesser number of small sharp-hooked lateral teeth towards the end of each leaf.
The natives of New South Wales call it Wattangre.
EXPLANATION of TAB. IV.
1. A scale of the receptacle.
2. A flower unexpanded.
3. The same expanded.
4. Stigma.
5. Tip of a petal magnified, shewing one of the stamina in its natural situation.
6. Stamen separate.