Banksia 'Waite Orange is a variety (in the plant breeders' rights sense)
of Banksia.
A hybrid
between B. hookeriana
(Hooker's Banksia) and B. prionotes (Acorn Banksia), it
is generally intermediate in morphology between those two species.
It was
bred in 1988 from an open pollination seedling of
B. hookeriana, during a breeding program conducted by
Dr Margaret Sedgley of the
Department of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute of the University of Adelaide
in Adelaide
, South Australia
. Three years later it was registered as a
variety by
Luminis Pty Ltd, a wholly
owned subsidiary of the university; the registration was granted on
6 April 1992.
It is claimed to be distinguishable as having "the following
combination of characters: a perennial bushy scrub; inflorescence
with buff perianths and bright orange style tips; mid green leaves;
leaf width, leaf length, plant height and plant width all
intermediate between those of Banksia hookeriana and Banksia
prionotes." It produces larger
inflorescences than either parent, and more of
them, making it useful to the
cut flower
trade.
References