Silver Banksia - native (Banksia marginata)

Family: Proteaceae (Protea family).

Probably now extinct in the Castlemaine district. Planted non-local species are moderately common. In the 1980s there were Silver Banksias near Metcalfe, on the east side of Mt Alexander, and on some of the hills north of Mt Alexander. All of these are now dead.

Identification:

• it is a small tree
• the leaves are squared at the tip and silvery underneath

Early records indicate that Silver Banksias were abundant on the grassy plains of Victoria. The common name then used was Honeysuckle.

Name. Banksia: after Joseph Banks, who in 1770, travelled with Captain Cook to Australia; marginata: edged, bordered.