Banksia

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These well-known garden plants and native Australian flowers can be identified by their distinctive flower spikes, fruiting "cones", and heads. The size of a banksia can range from a small, woody shrub to a tree up to 30 meters (100 feet) tall. They can be found in a wide range of environments, including sclerophyll forests, (rarely) rainforests, shrubland, and some more dry ones, but not in Australia's deserts.

Banksias are a key component of the food chain in the Australian bush because they produce a lot of nectar. All kinds of nectarivorous creatures, such as birds, bats, rodents, possums, stingless bees, and a variety of invertebrates, rely on them as a major source of food. Additionally, they are crucial to Australia's cut flower and nursery businesses economically. However, a number of factors such as land clearing, frequent burning, and disease pose a threat to these plants, and several species are rare and endangered.