About

Banksia aquilonia, commonly known as the northern banksia and jingana, is a tree in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to north Queensland on Australia's northeastern coastline. With an average height of 8 m (26 ft), it has narrow glossy green leaves up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long and 6 to 10 cm (2.4 to 3.9 in) high pale yellow flower spikes, known as inflorescences, appearing in autumn. As the spikes age, their flowers fall off and they develop up to 50 follicles, each of which contains two seeds.

Alex George described the plant in his 1981 monograph of the genus Banksia as a variety of B. integrifolia, but later reclassified it as a separate species. Genetic studies show it to be related to B. plagiocarpa, B. oblongifolia and B. robur. The species is found in wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest margins on sandy soils.

How to grow it

Banksia aquilonia adapts readily to cultivation in humid or temperate climates, but is rarely cultivated. A fast-growing plant, it can grow in acidic soils from pH 3.5 to 6.5. Propagation is generally by seed, and plants flower at four to six years of age. Vegetative propagation is possible from semi-hardened cuttings of pencil thickness. The flower spikes attract birds to the garden. It can also be grown in a pot, with its branches heavily pruned to keep foliage dense.

Where it grows

Banksia aquilonia occurs in coastal areas of northern Queensland from the Cedar Bay National Park to Paluma Range National Park, in areas with an annual rainfall of 1,000 to 4,000 mm (39 to 157 in). It occurs from near sea level to an altitude of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), in a variety of habitats and aspects. It grows in wet sclerophyll forest or rainforest margins, on plateaus, ridges, slopes and low-lying swampy areas on sandy or rocky soils, generally of granitic origin, or sometimes clay. It commonly grows with tree species such as the pink bloodwood (Corymbia intermedia), forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), swamp turpentine (Lophostemon suaveolens), forest oak (Allocasuarina torulosa), and black sheoak (A. littoralis), and understorey species such as coin spot wattle (Acacia cincinnata) and yellow wattle (A. flavescens). Much of its lowland habitat in the Wet Tropics has been degraded or fragmented. Although the range overlaps with B. dentata, the two species are not known to occur together.

Other Banksia plants

Banksia acanthopoda · Prickly Banksia · Banksia acuminata · Wallum Banksia · Banksia alliacea · Cactus Dryandra · Yilgarn Dryandra · Banksia archaeocarpa · Banksia arctotidis · Banksia armata var. armata · Banksia armata var. ignicida · Prickly Dryandra