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{{SPlantbox
|familia=Proteaceae
|genus=Banksia
|species=attenuata
|common_name=Slender banksia
|habit=shrub
|habit_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|Min ht box=25
|Min ht metric=ft
|Max ht box=35
|Max ht metric=ft
|height_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|Max wd box=17
|Max wd metric=ft
|width_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|origin=SW Australia
|origin_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|lifespan=perennial
|life_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|exposure=sun
|sun_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|water=moderate, dry
|water_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|features=flowers
|flowers=yellow
|Temp Metric=°F
|min_zone=9
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381
|max_zone=10.5
|image=Banksia attenuata Marg River email.jpg
|image_width=240
}}
'''''Banksia attenuata''''', commonly known as the '''candlestick banksia''' or '''slender banksia''', is a [[species]] of [[plant]] in the [[proteaceae]] family. Commonly a tree, it reaches 10 m (35 ft) high, but is often a [[shrub]] in dryer areas 0.4 to 2 m (1–7 ft) high. It has long narrow serrated leaves and bright yellow [[inflorescence]]s, or flower spikes, held above the foliage, which appear in spring and summer. The flower spikes age to grey and swell with the development of the woody [[follicle (fruit)|follicles]]. It is found across much of the [[southwest Australia|southwest]] of [[Western Australia]], from north of [[Kalbarri National Park]] down to [[Cape Leeuwin]] and across to [[Fitzgerald River National Park]].

The candlestick banksia is pollinated by and provides food for a wide array of vertebrate and invertebrate animals in summer months. Several species of [[honeyeater]] visit the flower spikes, as does the [[honey possum]], which has an important role as a pollinator. It regenerates from [[bushfire]] by regrowing from its woody base known as a [[lignotuber]], or from [[epicormic bud]]s within its trunk. Plants may have a lifespan of 300 years. It has been widely used as a street tree and for [[amenity|amenities]] planting in urban Western Australia, though its large size generally precludes use in small gardens. A dwarf form is commercially available in nurseries.

[[File:Banksia attenuata tree.JPG|thumb|left|A large tree in [[Bold Park (Western Australia)|Bold Park]], Perth. The trunk is characteristically wavy or bent.|alt=A large tree with a wavy curved pale grey trunk in a dry scrubland type landscape]]
''Banksia attenuata'' is generally encountered as a tree up to 10 m (35 ft) tall. In the north of its range as the climate becomes warmer and dryer, it is often a stunted multistemmed [[shrub]] 0.4 to 2 m (1–7 ft) tall. Both forms occur in the vicinity of [[Hill River (Western Australia)|Hill River]] but there is otherwise a marked demarcation.<ref name="Cowl85">{{cite journal |author=Cowling, Richard M.; Lamont, Byron B. |year=1985 |title=Variation in serotiny of three ''Banksia'' species along a climatic gradient |journal=Australian Journal of Ecology |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=345–50 |doi=10.1111/j.1442-9993.1985.tb00895.x}}</ref> In the [[Wheatbelt (Western Australia)|Wheatbelt]] and east of the [[Stirling Range]], it is a stunted tree. Tree forms have a solid trunk, generally wavy or bent, with 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) thick crumbly orange-grey bark which is a red-brown underneath.<ref name = "George81">{{The genus Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae)}}</ref> It regenerates from fire via [[lignotuber]] or epicormic buds from its fire-tolerant trunk. It has long narrow shiny green linear leaves 4 to 27 cm (1.6–11 in) long and 0.5 to 1.6 cm (0.2–0.7 in) wide.<ref name="George96"/><ref name=george99>{{cite encyclopedia | author=[[Alex George|George, Alex S.]] |year=1999 |editor=Wilson, Annette |title=[[Flora of Australia (series)|Flora of Australia]] | volume=17B |pages=175–251 |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] / [[Australian Biological Resources Study]] |isbn=0-643-06454-0}}</ref> The leaf margins have v- or u-shaped serrations along their length. The new growth is a pale grey-green, and occurs mainly in the late spring and summer,<ref name=atlas>{{The Banksia Atlas}}, pp. 54–55</ref> often after flowering. The brilliant yellow [[inflorescence]]s (flower spikes) occur from spring into summer and are up 5 cm (2 in) wide and up to 25–30 cm (10–12 in) tall.<ref name="George81"/> They are made up of many small individual flowers; a study at [[Mount Adams (Western Australia)|Mount Adams]] 330 km (200 mi) north of [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]] revealed a count of 1933 (± a [[Standard error (statistics)|standard error]] of 88) flowers per inflorescence,<ref name=Cowling87>{{cite journal|title= Seed bank dynamics in four co-occurring ''Banksia'' species |author=Cowling, Richard M.; Lamont, Byron B. |journal=Journal of Ecology |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=289–302 |year=1987|jstor= 2260419|doi= 10.2307/2260419}} {{subscription}}</ref> and another in the [[Fitzgerald River National Park]] yielded a count of 1720 (± 76) flowers. [[Anthesis]] proceeds up the flower spike over about 10 to 20 days, and is asynchronous. That is, a plant produces flower spikes over a several week period and will thus have spikes at different stages of development over the flowering season.<ref name=Wooller01>{{cite journal|title= Seed set in two sympatric banksias, ''Banksia attenuata'' and ''B. baxteri'' |author=Wooller, Sue J.; Wooller, Ronald D | journal = Australian Journal of Botany |volume=49|issue=5|pages=597–602|year=2001|doi= 10.1071/BT00084}}</ref> Often bright green in bud stage,<ref name=collins09>{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Kevin |last2=Collins |first2=Kathy |last3=George |first3=Alex S. |title=Banksias | publisher=Bloomings Books |location=Melbourne, Victoria |year=2008 |isbn=1-876473-68-1 |pages=68, 150–51}}</ref> they are terminal, occurring at the ends of one- to three-year old branches, and displayed prominently above the foliage.<ref name="George81"/> The smell of the open flowers has been likened to a peppery [[Syrah|Shiraz]] wine.<ref name=collins09/> Over time, the spikes fade to brown and then grey,<ref name="George96"/> and the individual flowers shrivel and lie against the spikes. This coincides with the development of dark furry oval [[Follicle (fruit)|follicles]], which measure 2–3.5 cm (0.8–1.4 in) long, 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in) high, and 1.4–2 cm (0.5–0.8 in) wide.<ref name="George81"/> However, only a very small percentage (0.1%) of flowers develop into follicles; the field study at Mount Adams yielded a count of 3.6 ± 1.2 per cone.<ref name=Cowling87/> The follicles develop and mature over seven to eight months, from February to December, while seed development occurs over four months from September to December.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Seed developmental patterns in ''Banksia attenuata'' R.Br. and ''B. laricina'' C. Gardner in relation to mechanical defence costs |author=Stock, W.D.; Pate, J.S.; Rasins, E. |journal=New Phytologist |volume=117 |issue=1 |pages=109–14 |year=1991 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1991.tb00950.x}}</ref>

==Cultivation==

===Propagation===

===Pests and diseases===

==Varieties==

==Gallery==
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==References==
<references/>




==External links==
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Banksia attenuata - Revision history

Raffi: Created page with '{{SPlantbox |familia=Proteaceae |genus=Banksia |species=attenuata |common_name=Slender banksia |habit=shrub |habit_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia ISBN 0881925381 |Min ht b…'