banksia

[bangk-see-uh]

noun

any Australian shrub or tree of the genus Banksia, having alternate leaves and dense, cylindrical flower heads.

Origin of banksia

1782; < New Latin; named after Sir Joseph Banks; see -ia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for banksia

Contemporary Examples of banksia

There are banksia bushes with their sawtooth-edge leaves and dried seed cones like multiple jabbering mouths.
Robert Hughes: A Fierce Critic and Powerful Voice Now Silenced
Simon Schama
August 10, 2012

Historical Examples of banksia

It was smothered in Banksia roses, and it overlooked the sea.
Memoirs of Life and Literature
W. H. Mallock
She cut great sprays from the Banksia rose and brought them back with her.
A Girl in Ten Thousand
L. T. Meade
He sat down in the armchair just where he could smell the sweet-peas and the Banksia roses.
A Girl in Ten Thousand
L. T. Meade
It was scarcely possible to see more than fifty yards ahead of you, so thickly grew the banksia trees.
The Bushman
Edward Wilson Landor
Luckily he espied a banksia tree which seemed easy to ascend; but just as he reached it the bull was upon him.
The Bushman
Edward Wilson Landor

British Dictionary definitions for banksia

banksia

noun

any shrub or tree of the Australian genus Banksia, having long leathery evergreen leaves and dense cylindrical heads of flowers that are often red or yellowish: family ProteaceaeSee also honeysuckle (def. 3)

Word Origin for banksia

C19: New Latin, named after Sir Joseph Banks

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012