dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. These enhance solubilisation of nutrients, thus allowing nutrient uptake in low-nutrient soils such as the phosphorus-deficient native soils of Australia. It has a lignotuber, so is able to resprout after being burned to the ground by bushfire. It has been given a rating of "Priority Three – Poorly Known Taxa" on Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation's Declared Rare and Priority Flora List. An assessment of the potential impact of climate change on this species found that its range is likely to contract by half under mild change, and severe change is likely to lead to extinction unless it migrates rapidly into newly habitable areas. Cultivation Banksia xylothemelia is rarely cultivated. It prefers lateritic and other heavy soils, and tolerates dry conditions and moderate frosts once established. Tony Cavanagh and Margaret Pieroni suggest that it would be best suited to a small garden in a warm sunny area. Seed takes six to seven weeks to germinate; germination rates appear to be quite low, with most reports suggesting success rates of less than 30%. References External links xylothemelia Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Kevin Thiele