Hakea sulcata

Furrowed hakea
Hakea sulcata in the Lake Wannamal Nature Reserve
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Hakea
Species:
H. sulcata
Binomial name
Hakea sulcata
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Hakea sulcata, commonly known as furrowed hakea,[2] is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a prickly shrub with grooved, cylindrical leaves, sweetly-scented flowers and relatively small fruit.

Flowers
Fruit and grooved leaves

Description

Hakea sulcata is a small spreading or upright shrub that grows to a height of 0.4 to 2 metres (1 to 7 ft) and does not form a lignotuber. The branchlets are either thickly or sparsely covered in flattened soft silky hairs at flowering time. The leaves are needle-shaped, thick, pentagonal in cross-section, more or less 2–12.5 cm (0.8–5 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) in diameter and grow alternately on the branchlets. The leaves have 6 or 7 shallow longitudinal grooves and end in a sharp point. The leaves occasionally vary in shape, they may be linear, narrowly egg-shaped, flat or concave with prominent veins. The inflorescence consists of 8-14 white, sweetly scented flowers is a single raceme in clusters in the leaf axils or on old wood. The cream-white pedicels are smooth, the perianth cream-white and the pistils 5–9.5 mm (0.20–0.37 in) long. The egg-shaped fruit are the smallest in the genus less than 0.6–0.8 cm (0.2–0.3 in) long and 0.3–0.35 cm (0.12–0.14 in) wide. The surface is generally smooth or slightly warty becoming rough with age and end in a point.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Hakea sulcata was first formally described 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society.[5][6] Named from the Latin sulcatus - grooved, referring to the leaf structure.[2]

Distribution

Furrowed hakea is endemic to an area in the South West, Great Southern and the Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia from Gingin in the north to Albany in the south, Augusta in the west and Esperance in the east. It grows in sandy or clay soils over or around areas of laterite.[4]

Conservation status

Hakea sulcata is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Hakea sulcata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Young, J A. Hakeas of Western Australia:A Field and Identification Guide. J A Young. ISBN 0-9585778-2-X.
  3. ^ Holliday, Ivan (2005). Hakeas:A Field and Garden Guide. Reed New Holland. ISBN 1-877069-14-0.
  4. ^ a b c "Hakea sulcata". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. ^ Brown, Robert. "Hakea sulcata". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. ^ Brown, Robert. "Hakea sulcata". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 19 August 2019.