Infopedia:Today's featured article/June 4, 2022

Banksia canei, the mountain banksia, is a shrub of the subalpine areas of Australia's Great Dividing Range, between Melbourne and Canberra. First described in 1967, it superficially resembles B. marginata, but is more closely related to another subalpine species, B. saxicola. Although no subspecies are recognised, four geographically isolated populations have been described. There is significant variation in the shape of the leaves between populations. B. canei is generally encountered as a shrub that grows up to 3 m (10 ft) high, with many branches and narrow leaves, and with yellow inflorescences (flower spikes) from late summer to early winter. Old flowers fall off the spikes, and up to 150 seed-bearing follicles develop, which mostly remain closed until burnt in a bushfire. Birds such as the yellow-tufted honeyeater and various insects forage among the flower spikes. B. canei is frost tolerant in cultivation, but copes less well with aridity or humidity, and is often short-lived in gardens.