Description
Banksia oligantha grows as a single-trunked small tree or as an erect shrub with few main stems. Reports of its maximum height vary from 3 m (10 ft) to 5 m (16 ft). When not in flower it is said to look somewhat like Banksia sessilis (Parrot Bush). It has smooth grey bark for the most part, though bark near the base of the trunk may be lightly fissured in older trees. Young stems are covered in hairs, both short and soft, and long and coarse; these are lost with age.
Leaves are deep green and glossy above, and a pale matte green below. They are roughly oval-shaped, but concave rather than laying flat. There is a sharp point at the tip, and two to four more such points along each margin. They range in length from 1.5 to 3.7 cm (0.6–1.5 in), and in width from 0.4 to 2.0 cm (0.16–0.79 in), with a petiole 2 to 3 mm (0.08–0.12 in) long. Young leaves have a coating of woolly hairs on both sides, but these are soon lost except in pits in the undersurface.
Appearing from October to December (late spring), the flowers occur in dome-shaped heads from 2.5 to 3 cm (1–1.2 in) in diameter, growing at the ends of branches. These comprise just 20 to 35 individual flowers, enclosed at the base by a whorl of furry involucral bracts 2 to 4 mm (0.08–0.16 in) long. As with most other Proteaceae, each flower consists of a perianth comprising four united tepals, and a single pistil, the style of which is initially enclosed within the limb of the perianth, but breaks free at anthesis. In B. oligantha, the perianth is 21 to 22 mm (0.8–0.9 in) long, with a limb of 3 to 3.5 mm (0.12–0.14 in). Perianth colour grades from red at the base to pale yellow at the limb. The styles are straight, 19 to 24 mm (0.75–0.94 in) long, and uniformly cream.
Old flowers soon fall from the flower heads, revealing a woody dome with 1 to 6 follicles embedded in it. These are a mottled grey colour, smooth, and shortly furry. They are oval-shaped, measuring 14 to 19 mm (0.55–0.75 in) long by 10 to 15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) high by 8 to 9 mm (0.3–0.35 in) wide. Each follicle contains up to two winged seeds, from 17 to 20 mm (0.7–0.9 in) long.
Banksia oligantha is most easily distinguished from the other two species in B. subg. Isostylis by its smaller leaves, flowers and fruit. Its foliage is also not as prickly as that of B. cuneata.
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