A Banksia Grandis Nut.

    I have been clearing out my 'bits' of wood box in the W/shop which I keep from other projects, just in case I need any of it. I found in the box this Banksia Nut, which can be turned on a lathe. You will see in the extras a shot of a turned Banksia Nut which I did a long time ago.
    I am going to turn the one in the main shot into a candle stick but will obtain another nut to make up a pair.
   
    When I have started on the project which will be at the weekend hopefully, I will blip its progress.

    I have also added some details about the Banksia Nut and where they originate from as follows.


Banksia is a genus of about 75 species in the Protea Family. All occur in Australia. Evidence suggests that Banksia or Banksia-like plants have existed for over 40 million years. The first humans to discover and make use of them were undoubtedly the Australian Aborigines who used the nectar from the flowers as part of their diet. The first Europeans to observe Banksia were probably Dutch explorers during the l7th and 18th centuries. However no botanical collections were made until the discovery of the east coast of Australia by Captain James Cook on the "Endeavour" in April 1770. On that ship were botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander who collected many new species of plant from Botany Bay. The Banksia was named in honour of Joseph Banks’ contribution to botany.

                                        




Banksia flowers are quite small, but they occur in dense clusters, which in some species can number several thousand individual flowers. The flowers are followed by large woody cones in which the seeds are contained within closed follicles, two seeds per follicle: to the majority of species these follicles remain tightly closed unless stimulated to open by heat, such as following a bush fire, but with a few species the seed is released annually. The seeds themselves have a papery wing that allows them to be distributed on the wind.

Most Banksia are medium shrubs, but some are prostrate and a few grow into large trees some 5 to l0 metres tall.  Those species native to areas where fires occur at regular intervals often have a lignotuber, a woody swelling at or below ground level from which regeneration can occur if the above ground stems are destroyed.

I hope you are all well and find the above of interest to you.
Take care.