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Blurb

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Banksia dentata, drawn in 1773
Banksia dentata, drawn in 1773

Banksia dentata is a species of tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs across northern Australia, southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as a gnarled tree to 7 m (23 ft) high, it has leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long with toothed margins. The cylindrical yellow flower spikes, up to 13 cm (5 in) high, appear in the cooler months, attracting honeyeaters, sunbirds, the sugar glider and insects. Flowers fall off the old spikes, which develop into follicles containing up to two seeds each. Banksia dentata is one of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and one of four species published in 1782 as part of Carl Linnaeus the Younger's original description of Banksia. It is classified in the series Salicinae, a group of species from Australia's eastern states. Genetic studies show it to be an early offshoot within the group. It is found in savanna, associated with Pandanus and Melaleuca. After bushfires it regrows from its woody base, known as a lignotuber. (Full article...)


Comments

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  • occurs throughout northern Australia, and also extends into New Guinea and the Aru Islands. - "also extends into": surely the banksia doesn't extend there? Also, that feels like an ineffective wording.
trimmed. Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:28, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • the sugar glider - why "the sugar glider" and not sugar gliders?
then honeyeaters and sunbirds are families and hence have multiple species. the sugar glider is a single species. I could write "various species of honeyeater and sunbird" Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:28, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
tweaked now Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:51, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • ageing or aging
I must say I prefer the former, as do my countryfolk :) Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:35, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • 1–13 mm long teeth, - any reason for the lack of an imperial measurement?
converting mm to in seems silly, but i rejigged that one due to the upper limit being a bit larger. done now. Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:28, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • corn - what's with the easter egg? I read corn I think Maize in general
It was Jim's idea above. The source just says "corn" so I suppose we take it as is. Changed link to maize Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:41, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • obovate - Meaning?
I've linked it at the first instance - essentially it is egg-shaped with the fatter end at the apex rather than the base (which is the briefest way I can explain it) - hence I have bluelinked it only Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:25, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • should standardise use / lack of convert template
I am not too fussed about it as long as the layout looks consistent to the reader - other people have often added the templates in, and for the most part that's fine. Template is occasionally problematic when, say, rounding a reading in tens of metres to nearest 5 ft. Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:28, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
de-linked Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:22, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Image at bottom is causing a bit of white space for me, as are those numerous boxes even further down
added a page break - not sure what to do about the boxes. I wonder if they can be arranged horizontally Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:00, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Parkinson died in 1771. Miller was a contemporary of his who retouched it in 1773. I suspect little else is known about him. I have added Parkinson's death date Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:54, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
1988 - added now Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:56, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Any chance of alt text?
added alt text now Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:34, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I have split into two sentences with semicolon between Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:42, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • community - Is this the proper term?
yes. I discovered a page Plant community that I have linked to Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:00, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Banksia dentata is used in the bee industry as a source of nectar for bees in making honey. - Either merge this single-line paragraph somewhere or tell us how it's used.
merged Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:49, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • pruned hard - is there a link for this term?
link to pruning - I would have thought the "hard" was self-explanatory Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:00, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why the switch between Banksia dentata and B. dentata? Wouldn't B. dentata be standard?
Unabbreviated if beginning a paragraph or sentence apparently Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:35, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • The first instance would have been the lede and first sentence of the body. Otherwise this feels odd, especially since what few biology books I have read continue to use the abbreviated form in later paragraphs (compare the papers cited at Lake Rawa Pening) — Crisco 1492 (talk) 11:22, 16 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • and people would squat over smoking cones in the hope this would relieve diarrhea. - If they were the ones who set the cones of fire than say it explicitly
clarified Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:38, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thus its dentate (toothed) leaf - Last named subject was "the species" (plural). Something is not right.
He classified and named the four original species on their leaf shapes - next sentence shows how dentata was named. hope it reads better now Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:56, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • his landmark publication - POV / weasel word
It was a landmark as it was the first comprehensive catalogue of the flora of Australia. I get your point though. Maybe I'll just let the link do the talking.... Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:56, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Banksia J.R.Forst & G.Forst - Is this a publication? A species name? Not getting this
  • What does L.f. mean?
Okay, to answer both the above queries, the proper/full name for the genus Banksia as referring to the plants we know as banksias was officially described by Carl Linnaeus the Younger in 1782 - this is why it is properly cited as Banksia L.f. (the L.f. is the proper botanical abbreviation of taxa authored by him). However Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg Forster (abbreviated to J.R.Forst & G.Forst) had penned the name Banksia to describe a different genus of plants (actually Pimelea ) however this name was not taken up. Over 100 years after the orignal descriptions, Kuntze pushed for this to be corrected, but this was not officially recognised as everyone had been using Banksia for banksias .....I can add some of this in parentheses to make it clearer (?) Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:56, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Don't think that would be needed, but without understanding how binomials are named getting how L.f. comes into play (for instance) is impossible. I don't recall seeing this in the earlier sections or later ones either. Remember, we should be aiming for the general reader. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 11:03, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've added a bit to make it more accessible to the lay reader Casliber (talk · contribs) 19:40, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. long story but the option of the subgenera is proposed there Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:07, 17 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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