Banksia:New Proteaceous Cut Flower Crop

Abstract

More than 1400 species have been recognized in the ancient Proteaceae family (Rebelo 1995). Their occurrence is mostly distributed between Australia with about 800 species and Africa with about 400 species with the remainder found in South America, the islands east of New Guinea, and a few species in southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Madagascar. They are broadly referred to as proteas, although we identify specific genera by their Latin names. The subfamily Proteoideae, largely found in Africa, has contributed the genera Protea, Leucadendron, and Leucospermum to floricultural trade, while the Australian Grevilleoideae has contributed Banksia and Grevillea that have found similar use in floriculture and landscaping. Other genera are still emerging in importance (Criley, 2001

Genetic Resources and Domestication of Macadamia

“…& J.C. Wendl., Protea L., and Leucadendron R.Br., all of which are cultivated for their inflorescences (Harden 1990;Criley 1998;Sedgley 1998;Coetzee and Littlejohn 2001;Ben-Jaacov and Silber 2006).…”