Hakea tephrosperma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Hakea
Species:
H. tephrosperma
Binomial name
Hakea tephrosperma

Hakea tephrosperma commonly known as hooked needlewood,[2] is a shrub or small tree species in the family Proteaceae. It has cream flowers, needle-shaped leaves and is one of the taller species adaptable for dry to temperate locations.

Description

Hakea tephrosperma is a large upright multi-stemmed shrub or small tree growing to 8 m (26 ft) high and forms a lignotuber. The smaller branches are rusty coloured with flat silky hairs or may be densely covered with short white, woolly, soft matted hairs. The needle-shaped leaves are smooth 3–8 cm (1–3 in) long, 1–1.8 mm (0.04–0.07 in) wide and ending in a small curved hook 0.8–2 mm (0.03–0.08 in) long. The inflorescence has a short red-brown stalk 1–3 mm (0.039–0.12 in) long, covered in fine soft hairs. The inflorescence consists of 6-22 flowers, each individual flower has a stalk 3.5–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long. The pedicel and perianth are white and red-brown with fine soft matted hairs. Racemes of cream flowers appear in the leaf axils between September and October. The egg-shaped fruit are mostly smooth 2–3 cm (0.8–1 in) long and 1.5–2 cm (0.59–0.79 in) wide, occasionally with small blister-like protuberances. The fruit ending with blunt conspicuous horns up to 2 mm (0.08 in) long. [3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Hakea tephrosperma was first formally described in 1830 by botanist Robert Brown in Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae.[5][6] The specific epithet (tephrosperma) is derived from the Ancient Greek words tephros meaning "ash-coloured"[7]: 382  and sperma meaning "seed" [7]: 694  referring to the colour of the seed.

Distribution and habitat

Hooked needlewood is a widespread species occurring in drier areas of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Grows in open spinifex and blue-bush (Maireana species) shrubland as an individual tree or in dense thickets on coarse soils.[4] The hooked needlewood is an adaptable species for dry to temperate locations but rarely seen in cultivation.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Hakea tephrosperma". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Hakea tephrosperma". Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 Ivan Holliday (2005). Hakeas : a field and garden guide. Reed New Holland. ISBN 978-1-877069-14-7.
  4. 1 2 "Hakea tephrosperma". Flora of Australia Online. Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Government.
  5. ↑ "Hakea tephrosperma". APNI. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  6. ↑ Brown, Robert (1830). Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae. London. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  7. 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
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