Banksia million to one!

By Paul Dunlop
A MUTANT banksia tree found in Pakenham is the talk of the gardening world.
Flowers are growing on the tree’s trunk, rather than its branches.
The banksia, part of a cluster planted two years ago on the Lakeside estate, is possibly the only one of its kind in Victoria.
Labelled a “freak of nature”, it was discovered by horticulturist Wendy Walsh and has quickly set green tongues wagging.
Gardening experts have described the odds of such a rare genetic mutation as one in a million.
Ms Walsh, part of the Plant Management Company team that created and cares for the gardens on the estate, said when she first saw the distinctive ‘bottle brush’ flowers on the banksia’s trunk she could not believe her eyes.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God — that’s not normal’,” she said.
“The flowers should have been on the end of the branches like the rest of the banksias in the area.”
At first Ms Walsh thought the tree may have had something wrong with it, but officials from Gardening Australia were able to make an accurate diagnosis.
Gardening Australia’s Angus Simpson told the Gazette it was the first time he had heard of the mutation in a banksia — “and I’ve seen a few in my time,” he said.
“It’s a phenomenon, it’s hard to say what would have caused it. It is a very rare mutation,” he said.
The genetic imbalance that causes the flowers to grow on the trunk is known as the cauliflory effect and generally happens in tropical rainforests.
Plant Management Company team leader Danny Stark said there were thousands of banksia plants on the estate but only one displaying the rare mutation.
“We would have been past this tree many, many times and never noticed,” he said.
Ms Walsh said it was exciting to think she had discovered such a rare mutation.
“It’s amazing to think it has happened here, we’re a long way from the tropics,” she said.
“It’s something you see once and may never see again.”
The banksia’s precise location is being kept a secret to protect it from vandals or greenthumbed souvenir hunters.
“It’s something to be cherished. It’s a one in a million,” Mr Stark said.