Grevillea banksii (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Grevillea banksii R. Br.

Family: Proteaceae

Vernacular names

• Banks' grevillea (En).

Distribution

Native to south-eastern Queensland, introduced into Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar and South Africa. Naturalized in Madagascar.

Uses

G. banksii produces fuelwood and poles and forms effective wind-breaks in regions of high rainfall. Cultivar "Fosteri" is a dense shrub used in fences. Prunings provide a promising fodder for goats. It is also grown as an ornamental.

Observations

Shrub or small, slender tree up to 4-10 m tall, rarely prostrate. Branchlets slightly ridged by decurrent leaf bases, tomentose.

• Leaves alternate, pinnatipartite, 6-12-lobed, (8-)14-30 cm long; petiole 3-5 cm long; lobes asymmetrical, broadly linear to lanceolate, glabrous above, ferrugineous-silky beneath.
• Inflorescence a terminal or axillary (in one of the upper leaves), dense, subcylindrical raceme, 5-10(-21) cm long; peduncle 1-4 cm long, tomentose; rachis villous; pedicel 3-10 mm long, villous.
• Flower red, yellowish or almost white, sometimes greenish or red; perianth suboblong, tube 13-20 mm × 3-4 mm, tomentose outside, glabrous inside, limb obliquely ovate. Fruit an obliquely ovoid follicle with persistent style, 15-24 mm × 9-10 mm × 4-5 mm, coriaceous and dehiscing on one side, 1-2-seeded.
• Seed 8-11 mm × 3.5-4 mm × 1 mm, narrowly winged, smooth, shiny.

It flowers year-round in Java and Peninsular Malaysia. If the fruits are not picked timely, they split open and the seeds are scattered. Fully viable seed can be obtained from 3-4-year-old trees. Several hybrids of G. banksii are cultivated as ornamentals. The flowers, fruits and seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides. Some cultivars may cause allergic contact dermatitis. In Queensland, G. banksii occurs on various soils, but mainly on compact sandy ones in flat areas, from 250-2000 m altitude. It is moderately frost-tolerant.

Selected sources

• Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950-. Series 1. Volume 1, 4-. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Makinson, R.O. & Boland, D.T., 1992. Potential genetic resources for agroforestry in the genus Grevillea. In: Harwood, C.E. (Editor): Grevillea robusta in agroforestry and forestry: proceedings of an international workshop. International Council for Research in Agroforestry, Nairobi, Kenya. pp. 151-164.
• McGillivray, D.J., 1993. Grevillea, Proteaceae: a taxonomic revision. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, Australia. 465 pp.
• Pinyopusarerk, K., 1989. Growth and survival of Australian tree species in field trials in Thailand. In: Boland, D.J. (Editor): Trees for tropics: Growing multipurpose Australian trees and shrubs in developing countries. ACIAR Monograph No 10. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, Australia. pp. 109-127.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen (Auxiliary plants)