Banksia goodii

Good's banksia grows as a low shrub, either prostrate or with stems up to 20 cm (7.9 in) high, and forms a lignotuber. The stems and leaves are densely hairy and new growth is a striking purple colour. The leaves are dark green with a prominent yellow midrib and are held erect. They are wavy, oblong to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, coarsely and irregularly serrated along their edges. The flower spikes are 80–150 mm (3.1–5.9 in) long with prominent, hairy involucral bracts at the base of the head. The flowers are rusty brown with cream-coloured styles. The perianth is 24–26 mm (0.94–1.02 in) long and the pistil 29–31 mm (1.1–1.2 in) long and gently curved. Flowering occurs in May and November and the follicles are elliptical, 25–32 mm (0.98–1.26 in) long, 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) high and 10–12 mm (0.39–0.47 in) wide and densely hairy. The old spikes have a hairy appearance due to retention of old withered flower parts. Some spikes produce no follicles but sometimes up to fifteen are formed.[2][3][4][5][6]

Banksia goodii was first formally described in 1830 by Robert Brown in the Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae from specimens collected by William Baxter near King George's Sound in 1829.[7][8] The specific epithet (goodii) honours Peter Good, gardener assistant to Robert Brown.[9]

Good's banksia occurs on shallow white or grey sand over laterite, in low forest and woodland in southwest Western Australia between Albany and the Porongorup Range. The distribution was probably greater before much of the surrounding land was cleared for agriculture.

There are seventeen known populations of this banksia, ranging in size from 10 to 300 plants for a total of around 1000. It is listed as "vulnerable" under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "Threatened Flora (Declared Rare Flora — Extant)" by the Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia).[2][10] The main threats to the species include inappropriate fire regimes, road maintenance and land clearing.[6].

Seeds do not require any treatment, and take 19 to 56 days to germinate.[11]

• Brown, Andrew; Thomson-Dans, Carolyn; Marchant, Neville, eds. (1998). Western Australia's Threatened Flora. Como, Western Australia: Department of Conservation and Land Management. ISBN 0-7309-6875-8.
• Taylor, Anne; Hopper, Stephen (1988). The Banksia Atlas (Australian Flora and Fauna Series Number 8). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-07124-9.