Banksia archaeocarpa is an extinct

Extinction

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...

 species of tree or shrub, known only from a fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 Banksia

Banksia

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...

"cone" recovered from rocks known as the Merlinleigh Sandstone from the Middle Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 , found in the Kennedy Range

Kennedy Range National Park

Kennedy Range National Park is a national park in Gascoyne region of Western Australia , approximately north of Perth and about east of Carnarvon....

 in Western Australia. Described in 1983 by Ken McNamara, it closely resembles the extant B. attenuata

Banksia attenuata

Banksia attenuata, commonly known as the candlestick banksia or slender banksia, is a species of plant in the proteaceae family. Commonly a tree, it reaches 10 m high, but is often a shrub in dryer areas 0.4 to 2 m high...

(Candlestick Banksia), with the flowers spirally arranged.. Some leaves resembling Banksia brownii

Banksia brownii

Banksia brownii, commonly known as Feather-leaved Banksia or Brown's Banksia, is a species of shrub that occurs in southwest Western Australia. An attractive plant with fine feathery leaves and large red-brown flower spikes, it usually grows as an upright bush around two metres high, but can also...

(Feather-leaved Banksia) were discovered at the same site but it is unclear whether or not they were from the same plant.

A cast of the fossil cone is on display at the Western Australian Museum

Western Australian Museum

The Western Australian Museum is the state museum for Western Australia.The Western Australian Museum has seven main sites: two in Perth within the Perth Cultural Centre, two in Fremantle , and one each in Albany, Geraldton, and Kalgoorlie-Boulder...

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Today, the Kennedy Range lies far to the north of the distribution of most banksias. The only Banksia species found there is B. ashbyi

Banksia ashbyi

The Ashby's Banksia is a species of shrub in the plant genus Banksia. It occurs in heath and spinifex country along the coast of Western Australia between Geraldton and Exmouth.-Description:...

(Ashby's Banksia), the northernmost of all western banksias.