Curtis's Botanical Magazine/Volume 82/4906

4906.

Victorian Banksia.

Nat. Ord.

''Gen. Char. Flores'' in amentum exinvolucratum collecti, paribus tribracteatis. Perigonium quadripartitum vel quadrifidum. Stamina 4, apicibus concavis laci- niarum perigonii immersa. Squamulæ hypogynæ 4. Ovarium uniloculare. Ovula 2. collateralia, supra medium marginis affixa, primiæ latere exteriore longitudina- liter fisso, nucleum nudante. Stylus filiformis; stigma clavatum. Folliculus ligneus, bilocularis, ovulorum priminis in dissepimentum ligneum liberum bipar- tibile concretis. Semina 2, utrinque dissepimenti basi excavate adplicita, superne in alam cuneatam producta.-Frutices vel arbores mediocres, in Nova Hollandia extratropica passim obvia, in littore intratropico rarissime; ramis umbellatis; foliis sparsis, raro verticillatis, integris, serratis vel pinnatifdo-incisis, in eadem stirpe sape variis, glandulis cutaneis hypogynis; amentis solitariis, terminalibus vel raro lateralibus, cylindraceis vel interdum abbreviatis, bracteis aliquot brevibus angustis subtensis; florum bracteis persistentibus majoribus solitariis, minoribus geminatis collateralibus, interioribus amenti fructiferi rachi ut plurimum incrassata et cum ''folliculorum basibus conferruminata. Endl.''

Victoriæ; ramis fulvo-tomentosis, foliis sparsis elongato-linearibus (6- 10-pollicaribus) pinnatipartitis utrinque tomentosis subconcoloribus supra demum glabratis lævibus sinubus acutis, lobis late ovato-triangularibus sub- isoscelis muticis incurvato-acuminatis, supra aveniis, subtus anguste nervoso- marginatis 6-8-nerviis albido-punctatis, capitulo terminali sessili foliis su- perato ovato amplo, squamis infimis longe rufo-barbatis, calyce pollicari basi glabro, stylo calycem superante arcuato glabro (v. villoso) apice incrassato, stigmate medio læviter incrassato supra conico-cylindraceo infra attenuato.

Victoriæ. Meisn. New Austral. Prot. in Hook. Jour. Bot. 1855, v. 7. p. 119.

speciosa. Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1728 (non Br.).

A cut specimen of this fine Banksia was sent to us by Mr. Moore, of Glasnevin Botanical Garden, Dublin, which he raised from Swan River seeds from Mr. Drummond. There can, I think, be no doubt of its being the same with the B. speciosa above quoted in the Bot. Reg., but not the B. speciosa of Br. and Hook., Bot. Mag. t. 3052; and equally certain does it ap- pear to be the B. Victoriæ of Meisner in Hook. Journ. of Bot., who described his plant from Drummond's Swan River Herba-

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rium, Coll. VI. n. 203. He there justly observes that it is "a noble species, very near B. speciosa, but easily distinguished by the segments of the leaves being larger, flat, not white under- neath, nor scrobiculate above;" and he honours it with the name of our gracious Queen. He does not seem to be aware of the figure in the 'Botanical Register,' which we quote.

This probably forms a good-sized shrub: the branches terete, woolly and villous, bearing small reddish abortive leaf- buds in the axils of the leaves. Leaves about a span long, on short, villous petioles, in outline oblong-cuneate, singularly trun- cate at the apex, with tufts of hair at the apex of the midrib; they are deeply pinnatifid, almost to the base, the lobes ovato- triquetrous, sharply acuminate, the lower margin longer than the upper one, the upper side even and more or less downy, dull green: beneath the lobes have many prominent parallel nerves, paler than the upper side, but not white, distinctly downy, mi- nutely reticulated between the nerves: midrib beneath promi- nent and rusty-coloured. Head of flowers large, nearly globose: the flowers beautifully arranged in spiral lines. Bracteas cuneate, densely clothed with rusty-coloured hair, very long at the apex. Sepals silky with villous hairs, and style the same. Stigma subu- late.

Fig. 1. Flower and bract. 2. A single bract :-magnified.

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