Banksia saxicola

Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae native to Victoria (Australia)

Banksia saxicola, the rock banksia or Grampians banksia, is a species of tree or shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in Victoria in two distinct populations, one in The Grampians and the other on Wilsons Promontory. Formerly considered to be a form of B. integrifolia, it was described as a distinct species by Alex George in 1981. It is most closely related to Banksia marginata. Near the coast, B. saxicola grows as a tree to high, while in alpine areas it is a shrub that grows up to high, or in exposed areas. It has leathery green leaves and grey yellow inflorescences (flower spikes) which appear in summer and early autumn. The old flowers fall off the spikes, followed by the development of finely furred follicles.

Banksia saxicola grows as a tall upright tree to high at Wilsons Promontory, or as a sprawling shrub in the Grampians. The 2–4 mm thick bark is brown on younger plants and grey—and often covered with lichen—on older plants. The leathery dark green leaves are roughly oval and measure long by wide. They are arranged in whorls along the stems on 5–10 mm long petioles. The species name is derived from the Latin words saxum "rock" and verb cŏlo "inhabit" or "grow in". The type specimen was collected from the summit of Mount William in the Grampians on 17 February 1977. A 2013 molecular study by Marcel Cardillo and colleagues using chloroplast DNA and combining it with earlier results reaffirmed B. saxicola and B. marginata as each other's closest relatives, and that B. integrifolia was the next closest relative. Early in 2007, Mast and Thiele rearranged the genus Banksia by merging Dryandra into it, and published B. subg. Spathulatae for the taxa having spoon shaped cotyledons; thus B. subg. Banksia was redefined as encompassing taxa lacking spoon shaped cotyledons. They foreshadowed publishing a full arrangement once DNA sampling of Dryandra was complete; in the meantime, if Mast and Thiele's nomenclatural changes are taken as an interim arrangement, then B. saxicola is placed in B. subg. Spathulatae.

In The Grampians, Banksia saxicola grows on exposed summits and slopes as well as gullies in scrub or woodland on a loamy soil, generally among sandstone boulders, with such species as brown stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri). Birds observed visiting flower spikes of B. saxicola include the New Holland honeyeater and crescent honeyeater. Its attractive foliage and furry follicles (which can look as if snowed on) are its horticultural features. It flowers in 3 to 4 years from seed.