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Banksia dentata; photograph (c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-09-21

Banksia dentata L.f.

Tropical Banksia

Proteaceae · New Guinea, Northern Territory +2

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Banksia dentata L.f.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, L.fil.

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Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY)Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY)Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY)Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Matt B, some rights reserved (CC BY)Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Matt B, some rights reserved (CC BY)Banksia dentata, photograph (c) Matt B, some rights reserved (CC BY) 81 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
16.7°C
Record low 14.0 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
34°C
Oct and Nov at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,556mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
32–44DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes June to September (December to March at the habitat), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Banksia dentata, commonly known as the tropical banksia, is a species of tree in the family Proteaceae. 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 large green leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long with dentate margins. The cylindrical yellow inflorescences, up to 13 cm (5.1 in) high, appear between November and May, attracting various species of honeyeaters, sunbirds, the sugar glider and a variety of insects. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Banksia dentata", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Banksia

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and heads. Banksias range in size from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres (100 ft) tall. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Banksia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,209 mm of 1,483 mm) falls in December to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 27.5 °C against a yearly mean of 26.5 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: June to September.

Rain

1,483 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,209 mm of it December to March. Wettest month January at 349 mm, driest month August at 2 mm; 3 months under 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,124 mm to 1,930 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,556 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,483 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 32 to 44 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 27, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 16.7 °C, the absolute minimum 14.0 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.3 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 19.0 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 15.2 °C to 22.5 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 33.5 °C in October and November (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 16.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +52 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Banksia dentata through the yearWarmest months October and November, mean daily high 34 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 19.0 °C; 1,483 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°36.3° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER14.0° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 32–44RH 54–66%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 698 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C31 / 29–3331 / 29–3231 / 28–3231 / 28–3330 / 27–3329 / 25–3128 / 25–3130 / 25–3332 / 27–3534 / 28–3734 / 29–3632 / 29–34
Night °C25 / 23–2625 / 23–2624 / 22–2624 / 21–2622 / 19–2520 / 16–2319 / 15–2320 / 16–2322 / 19–2423 / 21–2625 / 23–2725 / 24–27
Rain mm349 / 249–437334 / 244–420281 / 184–360107 / 46–19718 / 7–804 / 1–363 / 1–262 / 1–178 / 3–2529 / 17–72103 / 61–164245 / 165–326
DLI35 / 33–3933 / 32–3735 / 33–3736 / 32–3734 / 29–3632 / 27–3434 / 28–3538 / 32–3942 / 39–4444 / 42–4643 / 42–4538 / 36–42
RH %66 / 63–6866 / 64–6964 / 60–6760 / 53–6657 / 49–6454 / 46–6454 / 45–6355 / 45–6256 / 47–6357 / 50–6360 / 54–6363 / 59–65
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 698 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (1317 records in those cells; 1 more cell holds records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cell is left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1988:6549 (-9.425, 147.475). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 14.0 °C, 1st-percentile night 16.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 698 distinct grid cells holding 1317 of the 1318 in-range records (1 further cell with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1988:6549 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -9.50_147.500, lapse-corrected +52 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 509 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeNew Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-12.601, 130.983 · in the densest population, 606 records (41% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1481 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 1317 of them in the land cells it reads, of 1318 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1337 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 4 km away. 163 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1481 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Banksia dentata, photograph 1did not loadBanksia dentata, photograph 2did not loadBanksia dentata, photograph 3did not loadBanksia dentata, photograph 4did not loadBanksia dentata, photograph 5did not loadBanksia dentata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Stella Fish, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Matt B, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Ceropegia glabriflora Ceropegia glabriflora Apocynaceae Photo: CC BY, Thomas MesaglioMurdannia gigantea Murdannia gigantea Commelinaceae Photo: CC BY, Apichart SongsangchunGymnanthera oblonga Gymnanthera oblonga Harpoon Bud Photo: CC BY, Muhammad HEEMBOOCarallia brachiata Carallia brachiata Billabong-tree Photo: CC BY, Stella FishSyzygium forte Syzygium forte Flaky-barked satinash Photo: CC BY, Jane C FrostMaranthes corymbosa Maranthes corymbosa Chrysobalanaceae Photo: CC BY, Thomas Mesaglio

Other Banksia 74 in the reference

Banksia aculeata Banksia aculeata Prickly banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia aemula Banksia aemula Wallum Banksia Photo: CC BY-SA, James K. DouchBanksia ashbyi Banksia ashbyi Ashby's banksia Photo: CC0, author not statedBanksia attenuata Banksia attenuata Coast banksia Photo: CC BY, Chantel McWilliamBanksia baueri Banksia baueri Woolly Banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia baxteri Banksia baxteri Baxter's banksia Photo: CC BY, Em LamondBanksia benthamiana Banksia benthamiana Proteaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, CasliberBanksia blechnifolia Banksia blechnifolia Proteaceae Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia brownii Banksia brownii Brown’s Banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia burdettii Banksia burdettii Burdett's banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia caleyi Banksia caleyi Cayley's Banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler AnthonyBanksia candolleana Banksia candolleana Propeller banksia Photo: CC BY, Tyler Anthony all 75 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Banksia procumbens; Banksia tomentosa; Isostylis dentata; Sirmuellera dentata. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Proteaceae
Described by
L.f.
Native to
New Guinea, Northern Territory, Queensland +1
Wild records
1481 in range · 1337 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-21
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-21GBIF's key 7605292 is Banksia dentata L.fil.; the page links Kew's Banksia dentata L.f., and the name is cited as Kew cites it
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-21
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-21names fetched 2026-10-21
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 14 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (4 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 3 at a herbarium, 7 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-21
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-21NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -9.50_147.500, lapse-corrected +52 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-21found by its label; its IPNI identifier 703089-1 is Kew's for Banksia dentata L.f.
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-21
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-21
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 28 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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