A number of other characteristics of "B. prionotes" can be understood as secondary responses to weak serotiny. For example, winter flowering ensures that seed is ripe by the beginning of the bushfire season; this is very important for weakly serotinous species, which rely heavily upon the current year's seed crop. Another example is the deciduous florets of "B. prionotes". In strongly serotinous species, the old florets are retained on the cones, where they function as fire fuel, helping to ensure that follicles reach temperatures sufficient to trigger seed release. In "B. prionotes", however, seed release is triggered at relatively low temperatures: in one study, 50% of follicles opened at , and 90% opened at ; in contrast, the closely related but strongly serotinous "B. hookeriana" required respectively. Floret retention would therefore be to no advantage, and might even prevent seed from escaping spontaneously opened follicles.