Banksia integrifolia, coastal banksia or white bottle brush, whatever you decide to call it, it's a honey of a tree.

I'm walking along Sturges Road on my way to the Palomino Market for milk and mince, and dead ahead is one of my favorite trees. It's the only one that I know of in the area. It's scientific name is Banksia integrifolia but it's most commonly called the white bottle brush tree. 

This map (from Wikipedia) shows it's original, natural distribution in Australia. It's a fairly heavy, dense wood, but warps badly as the sawn wood dries and has poor load bearing ability. I did read that it is a good firewood, so at least it has that going for it. 

The size of this tree is highly variable. In sheltered locations it can get to be 110 feet tall. Can you imagine? This one is currently no more than about 25. 

A flower spike

As you can see, several hundred flowers form around each spike. 

I should have taken a video of this bee. If ever it could be said that an insect looked to be in ecstacy, this working girl would be your poster-bee. I could have made copies of the video and scaled it down to bee size to be used by bee-keepers in their hives as the ultimate motivational tool. I could imagine pin-ups of this worker going up in all the drones' dormatories. 
Maybe this is what bees think of when they think of Heaven. 
No flying from flower to flower for this lucky bee. She has found more nectar on this one spike (inflorescence) than she can carry and there are lots of spikes in this condition on this tree. I'd say her long-term job security prospects look good. 
And she was the only bee I saw on the tree. I wouldn't blame her a bit if she forgets to do the 'nectar-is-this-way-dance' when she goes back to the hive and keeps this grand buffet secret from the rabble.  

According to Wikipedia, the honey from Coastal Banksia nectar is considered to be mediocre in flavor and of low commercial value, but bee-keepers do value the trees because they're such an enormous source of pollen and nectar. It is an ideal tree for the bees in the autumn and winter as they search to supply their hive's needs during the cold months. And isn't it amazing, that although this tree does flower throughout the year, the autumn and winter months are it's peak flowering times. Knowing that, I wish there were more white bottle brush trees around us. Of course, maybe there are. I haven't been everywhere after all. Maybe I just haven't found them yet. The bees know if there are. 

Two stages of spike development and a seed pod

That is just beautiful. What a wonderful tree this is. 

And do you notice how this one tree has flower spikes in so many stages of development? That means this tree will be a source of food for a very, very long time, as counted in bee-time anyway. 

Another seed pod. One or two seeds are formed in each of those open follicles. If it's two, a separator holds the two seeds apart. Each seed has a feathery, black 'wing'. 
What a tree! 
It's okay with me if it's wood and honey don't measure up. I still give it my highest praise.     -djf