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Banksia epica is a spreading shrub from the south coast of Western Australia, known from only two wild populations, and it is still rarely grown. It grows best in full sun in well-drained soil, and drainage is the key to success.
Banksia epica is a shrub that grows on the south coast of Western Australia. A spreading bush with wedge-shaped serrated leaves and large creamy-yellow flower spikes, it grows up to 3½ metres (11½ ft) high. It is known only from two isolated populations in the remote southeast of the state, near the western edge of the Great Australian Bight. Both populations occur among coastal heath on cliff-top dunes of siliceous sand.
One of the most recently described Banksia species, it was probably seen by Edward John Eyre in 1841, but was not collected until 1973, and was only recognised as a distinct species in 1988. There has been very little research on the species since then, so knowledge of its ecology and cultivation potential is limited. It is placed in Banksia ser. Cyrtostylis, alongside its close relative, the well-known and widely cultivated B. media (southern plains banksia).
B. epica is fairly new to cultivation. Kevin Collins of the Banksia Farm in Albany, Western Australia is said to have pioneered its cultivation, growing it in loamy clay or sandy gravel. It showed good tolerance for alkaline soils in those conditions, and has also succeeded in sandy, alkaline soil near the coast between Mandurah and Kwinana. The Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra has also had some success in cultivating the species. Seeds were sown in February 1996, and planted out in November 1997; seedlings planted into sections without good drainage died, but two seedlings that were planted into a section with excellent drainage were about a metre tall by 2002, and flowering prolifically.
Propagation is by seed or cuttings. Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 14 to 49 days to germinate. In the absence of further information specific to B. epica, George recommends that cultivated plants be treated as for B. media and B. praemorsa, both of which require a sunny position in well-drained soil, and tolerate only light pruning not below the green foliage.
Banksia epica is known only from two populations in eastern parts of the Esperance Plains region of the South West Botanical Province, near the western edge of the Great Australian Bight. The main population occurs about 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Point Culver; there were over 2000 plants there when surveyed in June 1989. A smaller population occurs about 70 kilometres (43 miles) further east at Toolinna Cove; when surveyed in August 1991, this locality had around 350 plants. This latter population represents the easternmost limit of the western Banksia species; east of Toolinna Cove no Banksia species occurs for over 900 kilometres (560 miles).
Banksia acanthopoda · Prickly Banksia · Banksia acuminata · Wallum Banksia · Banksia alliacea · Cactus Dryandra · Northern Banksia · Yilgarn Dryandra · Banksia archaeocarpa · Banksia arctotidis · Banksia armata var. armata · Banksia armata var. ignicida
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Banksia epica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
