Banksia Violacea - Ecology

Ecology

Like most other Proteaceae, Banksia violacea has proteoid roots, roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing their uptake in low-nutrient soils such as the phosphorus-deficient soils of Australia. B. violacea is highly susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi dieback.

Banksia violacea is one of a small number of Banksia species that has both lignotuberous and non-lignotuberous populations. In both cases, plants are adapted to release their aerial seed bank following a bushfire, ensuring seedlings are established on clear and relatively fertile ground; however the possession of a lignotuber makes plants much less reliant on fire regime for population maintenance and regeneration, as maternal plants are not killed by bushfire, but resprout from below ground level. Lignotuberous plants generally occur among the north-eastern populations, in the vicinity of Woodanilling. An investigation into the biogeography of these plants failed to find any vegetative, climatic or other environmental factors associated with the possession of a lignotuber.

Banksia flowerheads in general play host to a variety of birds, mammals and insects. However, only wasps, ants and flies were recorded visiting flower spikes during observations for The Banksia Atlas in the mid 1980s.