Showy Dryandra

Banksia formosa is an erect shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) but does not form a lignotuber. It has hairy branchlets and leaves that are broadly linear in outline, pinnatipartite, 70–160 mm (2.8–6.3 in) long and 6–11 mm (0.24–0.43 in) wide on a petiole 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long. There are between thirty and forty-five more or less triangular lobes on each side of the leaves. The flowers are borne on a head containing between 100 and 220 flowers in each head. There are oblong to egg-shaped involucral bracts 16–20 mm (0.63–0.79 in) long at the base of the head. The flowers have a golden orange perianth 25–39 mm (0.98–1.54 in) long and a yellow pistil 29–55 mm (1.1–2.2 in) long. Flowering occurs in May or from September to December and the fruit is a glabrous follicle 11–13 mm (0.43–0.51 in) long. Each head may have up to thirteen follicles.

Banksia formosa grows in kwongan and open forest between Busselton and Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve and is common near Albany and in the Stirling Range.

An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on this species found that its range is likely to contract by between 50% and 80% by 2080, depending on the severity of the change.