No. 110. 
Banksia cemula, R.Br. 
A Honeysuckle. 
(Family PROTEACE^E.) 
Botanical description. —Genus, Banksia, Linn. f. (See Part VIII, p. 169.) 
Botanical descript on. —Species, B. cemula, R.Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc., x, 210; 
Prod. 395. 
A shrub (or small tree—J.H.M.) very closely allied to B. serrata and difficult to distinguish from 
it except by the stigmatic end of the style which is very much shorter and ovoid. 
The flowers are also said to be of a yellowish-green without the bluish-grey tinge of B. serrata. 
The spikes are usually not so thick, the foliage precisely the same. 
Capsules at least as large as in B. serrata, the tomentum easily wearing off. (B.F1. v, 556.) 
It is important to distinguish between B. ce-nula and B. serrata. 
In originally describing the former species Brown says, “ . . . stigmate 
capitato exsulco nitido apice (quadrangulo) styli duplo crassiore ...” 
If Plate 119, Part XXXII of this work, be referred to, the shape (Pig. H) of 
the stigmatic end or stigma of B. serrata will be observed. That of B. cemula (see 
Figure D of the present Plate) is quadrangular, coarser and shorter, and the 
difference between the two species can thus be readily determined when flowers are 
available. 
B. cemula is a tall shrub or small tree, low-spreading and flat-topped. It 
rarely shows a stem of any size. 
B. serrata is roughly pyramidal in shape, a tree of medium size, and with a 
distinct stem. 
B. cemula has the young foliage rusty brown; the mature leaves are paler 
on the under side, but not so dull as in B. serrata. It flowers in April-May in the 
Sydney district. The colour of the unexpanded flowers is pale whitish-green (an 
opaque green). 
B. serrata has the young foliage greyish-white ; the mature leaves with a 
pale underside, which is dull, and sometimes has the midrib hairy. It flowers in 
February-March in the Sydney district. The colour of the unexpanded flowers is 
blue-grey (dove grey). The flower-head is longer and perhaps more cylindrical. 
