Here is Banksia aemula (T-H-L).
In the first paragraph of the lead section, we have at least five words (highlighted) which only a specialist could be expected to know. This is closely followed by the following cryptic riddle:Banksia aemula, commonly known as the wallum banksia, is a lignotuberous shrub of the family Proteaceae. Found from Bundaberg south to Sydney on the Australian east coast, it is encountered as a shrub or a tree to 8 m (26 ft) in coastal heath on deep sandy soil, known as Wallum. It has wrinkled orange bark and shiny green serrated leaves, with green-yellow flower spikes, known as inflorescences, appearing in autumn. The flower spikes turn grey as they age and large grey follicles appear. Banksia aemula resprouts from its woody lignotuber after bushfires.
How is anyone supposed to be able to understand this gibberish by reading from the start of the sentence?First described by the botanist Robert Brown in the early 19th century, it derives its specific epithet "similar" from its resemblance to the closely related Banksia serrata.
Why is this unimportant detail about naming in the lead section?It was known for many years in New South Wales as Banksia serratifolia, contrasting with the use of B. aemula elsewhere. However, the former name, originally coined by Richard Anthony Salisbury, proved invalid, and Banksia aemula has been universally adopted as the correct scientific name since 1981.
The poor writing in the lead section is followed then by incomprehensible abominations like the following sentence:
The article goes on to display signs of "wiki-churn" caused by tag-on facts:Initially tipped with white conical pollen presenters, the flowers open sequentially from the bottom to the top of the inflorescence over one to two weeks,[4] in a process known as anthesis.
Here the final two sentences are clearly tagged on and badly incorporated into the text, with the person then the name made into the subject of the sentences, where the plant is the subject of the first sentence, making the article read poorly.Banksia aemula was called wallum by the Kabi people of the Sunshine Coast, giving rise not only to its common name of wallum banksia but also to the name of the ecological community it grows in.[9] Frederick Manson Bailey reported in 1913 that the indigenous people of Stradbroke Island knew it as mintie.[10] Banyalla is another aboriginal name for the species.[8]
Again here, someone has tagged on facts:
Notice how the highlighted part is almost totally irrelevant to this article.Banksia aemula was collected by Scottish botanist Robert Brown in June 1801 in the vicinity of Port Jackson, and published by him in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. The specific name, Latin for "similar", refers to its similarity to B. serrata.[8] Brown also collected a taller tree-like specimen from Sandy Cape which he called Banksia elatior; the specific name is the comparative form of the Latin adjective ēlātus "elevated".[11][12]
Parts of it contain careless and shoddy grammar:
Parts of the "Ecology" section are repeated in the "horticulture" section below it.This community is found on younger, windblown sands than the heathlands to the north.[25]
