Silver Banksia

About

Widespread across southeastern Australia and IUCN-listed as Least Concern overall, but Wikipedia notes it 'has almost disappeared' from the basalt plains west of Melbourne due to historic land clearing — making surviving stands in volcanic-plains parks like You Yangs and Werribee Gorge ecologically significant.

How to spot it

A highly variable shrub to small tree with narrow, dull green leaves showing a white underside and a prominent midrib. Yellow cylindrical flower spikes 5-10cm tall, made up of up to 1,000 individual flowers, appear from late summer to early winter and fade to grey seed cones.

Found in

• You Yangs Regional Park
• Werribee Gorge State Park
• Cathedral Range State Park
• Kinglake National Park