Guide Beth’s plant of the month for January

The golden flowers of Banksia lemanniana currently hang like lanterns in the Banksia Garden. The pendulous flowers bloom from October to January and attract birds, bees and small mammals who feed on their nectar and aid in pollination.

The new growth is an attractive bronze colour, and the pendulous flowers hang on short branchlets. The leaves are stiff and serrated. It is a shrub that can grow to 5m in size and belongs to the Proteaceae family. It is sometimes known as the yellow lantern Banskia.

Once flowering has finished, the flower spikes turn grey, and if pollination has occurred, develop large woody seed follicles. This species lacks a lignotuber and cannot survive fire, relying solely on seed regeneration for its recovery. It is not considered threatened.

Described by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner in 1856, this striking species was named in honour of English botanist Charles Morgan Lemann (1806-1852).

Most of its population is found within the Fitzgerald River National Park, in the Southwest of Western Australia, and unlike other Banksias in the area, it is resistant to Phytophthora Dieback.

Banksia lemanniana is an attractive shrub for the home garden. It thrives in sandy, well-drained soils in full sun but will tolerate part-shade. It is best suited to areas with a dry summer but has been grown successfully in more humid areas on the east coast.

Join a walk with a Kings Park Guide to discover this unusual Banksia in the Banksia Garden, or ask in the Visitor Information Centre where you can find it in the Botanic Garden.

January 2025