Sea urchin hakea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Hakea
Species:
H. petiolaris
Binomial name
Hakea petiolaris
Occurrence data from AVH
fruit

Hakea petiolaris, commonly known as the sea-urchin hakea,[1] is a shrub or small tree with cream-coloured and pink or purple flowers and woody fruit. It is endemic to the south west of Australia, occurring at the coastal plain, jarrah forest and wheatbelt regions, often at the ancient granite outcrops of Western Australia.

Description

Hakea petiolaris grows as an erect shrub or tree up to 9 m (30 ft) in height. The leaves have a distinctive pale-grey colour and are 5.5–15 cm (2–6 in) long and 2.5–6 cm (1–2 in) wide. The flowers are arranged in groups that appear on small branches or in the forks of branches. The groups are roughly spherical and contain 120 to 200 individual flowers. Each flower is 1.4–1.8 cm (0.6–0.7 in) long and white or cream in colour with the perianth, (the non-reproductive part of the flower) ranging in colour from pink to purple. Flowering is followed by woody seed capsules which are 2–3.5 cm (0.8–1 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide. Each capsule splits into valves and releases 2 dark brown or black winged seeds.[1]

Taxonomy

Hakea petiolaris was first described by Carl Meissner in 1845, using a collection made at York by Ludwig Preiss.[2] The specific epithet (petiolaris) is derived from the Latin word petiolus meaning "small, slender stalk".[3]: 751  The Latin epithet petiolaris refers to the leaves presentation on conspicuous stalks.[4]

There are three subspecies, differing in the sizes of their leaves and the colour of the perianth as it ages.[4]

  • Hakea petiolaris Meisn. subsp. petiolaris has flowers that darken to mauve and then pink and has smaller leaves than those of the other subspecies. It is a shrub or small tree, one to two metres high, possesses a lignotuber and flowers in June.[5][6][7]
  • Hakea petiolaris subsp. trichophylla Haegi flowers darken to mauve and then maroon. It is a large shrub or tree, greater than three metres in height and sometimes attaining nine metres. It releases seed stored in its capsules rather than regenerating from a lignotuber in response to fire and flowers from April to June.[8][9][10][11] The hairs on the leaves, that shine grey-green during flowering, are persistent; this is referred to in the epithet trichophylla, that is derived, according to Haegi from the Greek trichos (θρίξ,[12] gen. τριχός; 'hair') and phyllon (φύλλον; 'leaf').[13]
  • Hakea petiolaris subsp. angusta Haegi which has flowers that darken to mauve and then pinkish mauve. A shrub or small tree, 1–2 m high, it flowers from March to May.[14][15][16] The epithet angusta is a Latin word meaning "narrow".[17]

Distribution and habitat

Conservation

All three subspecies of H. petiolaris are listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[7][10][16]

Cultivation

Bees in Hakaea petiolaris flowers, cultivars in Swan Valley, Western Australia

The species is propagated from seed, establishing itself as a large shrub, or a tree to around ten metres, the width is around two metres. The horticultural applications include use as a screening plant or hedge, or displayed as individual specimens. It is a fast growing and hardy species, frost resistant, bird attracting and has good potential as a feature plant.

Hakea petiolaris is recommended for the attractive appearance of its flowers and attraction for birds. Clusters of dullish red flowers, contrasted by white styles, are presented at the leaf axis in the austral autumn or winter. The plant is successfully grown in the urbanised sub-coastal regions of southern Australia.[18]

The most common subspecies in cultivation is H. petiolaris subsp. trichophylla.[4]

Ecology

The presentation of flowers at the stem (cauliflory) may be a relictual characteristic of a time when tall forest dominated the region and pollinators such as birds moved within the dense leaf canopy of under-storey species.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  2. ↑ "Hakea petiolaris". APNI. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  4. 1 2 3 "Hakea petiolaris". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  5. ↑ "Hakea petiolaris subsp. petiolaris". APNI. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris ssp. petiolaris". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris subsp. petiolaris". Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hakea petiolaris subsp. trichophylla". APNI. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris ssp. trichophylla". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris subsp. trichophylla". Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  11. ↑ Nikulinsky, Philippa; Hopper, Stephen (2008). Life on the rocks: the art of survival (2nd ed.). North Fremantle, Western Australia: Fremantle Press. p. 64. ISBN 9781921361289.
  12. ↑ Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  13. ↑ Haegi, L.; Barker, W. R.; Barker, R. M. (1999). Flora of Australia Vol 17B-Proteaceae 3 Hakea to Dryandra (PDF). Canberra/Melbourne: ABRS-Department of Environment & Heritage. p. 395. ISBN 0-643-06454-0.
  14. ↑ "Hakea petiolaris subsp. angusta". APNI. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris ssp. angusta". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Hakea petiolaris subsp. angusta". Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  17. ↑ Haegi, L.; Barker, W. R.; Barker, R. M. (1999). Flora of Australia Vol 17B-Proteaceae 3 Hakea to Dryandra (PDF). Canberra/Melbourne: ABRS-Department of Environment & Heritage. p. 395. ISBN 0-643-06454-0.
  18. ↑ Wrigley, J.W.; Fagg, M.A. (2003). Australian native plants : cultivation, use in landscaping and propagation (2nd ed.). Sydney: Reed New Holland. pp. 240–241. ISBN 1876334908.
  19. ↑ Main, Barbara York (1998). "Granite outcrops: a collective ecosystem" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 80: 113–122.

Further reading

  • Young, Jennifer (2000) Hakeas of Western Australia : botanical districts of Irwin and Darling - the Northern Sandplains and the South-west Forest West Perth, W.A.. ISBN 0958577803
  • Media related to Hakea petiolaris at Wikimedia Commons
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