Banksia rufa rufa

Description

Banksia rufa is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. It was first published by Carl Meissner in 1855, where it was given the name Dryandra ferruginea by Richard Kippist. The following year, Meisner published what was purportedly a distinct species, Dryandra runcinata. In 1870, George Bentham maintained D. runcinata, but demoted D. ferruginea to a variety of Banksia proteoides (King Dryandra). This stood until 1996, when Alex George restored the specific rank of D. ferruginea, and declared D. runcinata its synonym. In 2007, all Dryandra species were transferred to Banksia by Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele. As the name Banksia ferruginea had already been published in reference to the plant now known as Pimelea ferruginea, Mast and Thiele had to choose a new specific epithet; their choice, "rufa", is from the Latin rufus ("reddish"), in references to the red-brown colour of new growth and the involucral bracts.