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Banksia praemorsa 'Red' (Red Cut-leaf Banksia) - A dense, upright shrub to 12 feet tall with a thick trunks and branching well from the ground up and holding 2 inch long by half in wide gray-green leathery leaves that have blunt tipped toothed margins. Large and showy 10 inch long by 3- to 4-inch-wide wine-red flower heads are held both at the tips of branches and within the interior of the shrub in winter and spring.
Plant in full to part sun in a moderately well-draining soil (grows in clay soils if it drains) and tolerates light frost, extended dry periods, strong winds and coastal exposure. It is listed as tolerating temperatures just below 20° F at the Australian National Botanic Garden in Canberra. Plants respond to well to pruning so long as cuts are not made on bare stem but are above the lowest leaves. This is a very ornamental and adaptable plant to a wide range of conditions with flowers that attract birds and dense foliage that offers shelter.
Banksia praemorsa is found growing naturally in scattered colonies along sand dunes and sea facing cliffs and hills along the south coast of Western Australia from near Albany to Cape Riche. The name for the genus is one given by Carolus Linnaeus to honor the English botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who was on Captain James Cook's first expedition to Australia and collected the first Banksia specimens in 1770 and the specific epithet is from the Latin word 'praemorsus', meaning "bitten off" in reference to the toothed truncate leaf tips. This species was first introduced into cultivation by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1794 from plants grown from seed that was collected by Archibald Menzies in 1791 (namesake of Banksia mensiezii) while on the Discovery Expedition and was first described in 1804 from plants growing in cultivation. We thank Troy McGregor at Waltzing Matilija Nursery for supplying us with these plants and providing the image of it for this page.
Information displayed on this page about Banksia praemorsa 'Red' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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