| Common name | bull banksia |
| Scientific name | Banksia grandis Willd. |
| Family | Proteaceae |
| Etymology | Genus: After Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820, botanist who travelled with Captain Cook. Species: From Latin, grandis, great. Referring to the distinctive large leaves. |
| Distribution | In the wild, it occurs from Mount Lesueur to Cape Leeuwin in southwestern Western Australia. |
| Native habitat | Occurs in sand on the coastal plain, in woodland and heath. It is common in laterite in the jarrah forest of the Darling Plateau near Perth. |
| Description | This is a large shrub to small tree with huge yellow inflorescences. |
| Flowering/fruiting | Spring through to mid summer. |
| Location in Garden | There is a beautiful grafted plant in Bed 14a in the Connections Garden. |
| | This species is very slow-growing and may take 10 years or more to flower from seed. It is very susceptible to root rot both in its natural habitat and in gardens and we have certainly lost many plants to this disease over the years. To combat this problem we grafted Banksia grandis onto Banksia integrifolia which is a much tougher species and is resistant to root rot. This species develops a lignotuber and can regenerate by vegetative means from the lignotuber if the upper parts of the plant are destroyed by fire. It can also regenerate from seed. |
