 Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Photo © W.R.Barker |
Synonymy
Hakea florida R.Br., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 10: 183 (1810)
T: hills between Bald Head and Princess Royal Harbour (King George Sound), [Western Australia], without date, R.Brown s.n.; syn.: ?BM (Iter Austral. 3356), BM, NSW, K; Hort. Kew, June 1808, Anon. (?R.Brown) s.n.; syn: BM p.p., K.
Hakea florida var. latifolia Meisn., in J.G.C.Lehmann, Pl. Preiss. 1: 562 (1845). T: montis Wuljenup [Willyung Hill, near Albany], Western Australia, 20 Oct. 1840, L.Preiss 586; syn: LD, LE p.p., NY p.p.; in region. interior. Australiae merid.-occid, Western Australia, Oct. 1840, L.Preiss 589; syn: LD p.p., LE p.p., NY p.p.
Images of the NY type specimens of Preiss 586 and 589 can be seen on the New York Botanical Garden site.
Description
Stiff divaricately-branched shrub, 1–3 m tall. Branchlets densely villous. Leaves flat, narrowly elliptic, rarely obovate, 1.5–5 cm long, 3–12(–25) mm wide, attenuate or cuneate, usually dentate with 1–6(–10) teeth 1–2 mm long per side, rarely entire, appressed-pubescent, glabrescent; mucro 1–2.5 mm long.
Inflorescence with 22–28 flowers; involucre 4–6 mm long; bracts densely appressed-pubescent; rachis 3.5–4 (–8.5) mm long, villous; pedicels 3–5 mm long. Perianth 2.5–3 mm long, white. Pistil 4.5–5.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; gland present.
Fruit obliquely ovate, 2.4–4 cm long, 1.5–2.3 cm wide, glabrous, black-pusticulate; horns 3–5 mm long. Seed obliquely obovate, 16–25 mm long; wing partly down one side of seed body only.
Distribution and ecology
Occurs in south-western Western Australia from the Denmark area and Stirling Ra. through to Fitzgerald River National Park; found on cliff faces, gorges and gullies of higher areas usually in rocky soil (gravelly clay or loam) or sand in Eucalyptus woodland with thick scrub strata.
To plot an up to date distribution map based on herbarium collections for this species see Australia's Virtual Herbarium. Localities outside the native range may represent cultivated or naturalised records.
Flowering time
Flowers Nov.–Jan.
Derivation of name
From floridus, Latin for profusely flowering.
Relationships
Previously treated as Series Enerves of Sect. Conogynoides of Bentham. Sect. Conogynoides is characterised by a conical pollen presenter, veined leaves, glabrous perianth and fruits lacking horns. Series Enerves members lack an obvious venation in the leaves.
Because of the lack of leaf venation, but also because the fruits have very distinctive horns and the conical pollen presenter is somewhat obliquely placed, this group was removed from Sect. Conogynoides by Barker et al. (1999) and treated as the informal Varia group. Probably close to Bentham's Section Manglesiodes (the Lissocarpha group of Barker et al., 1999) but differing by the curved buds of the Varia group as opposed to the straight buds of the Lissocarpha group.
Members of the group are H. florida, H. horrida, H. ilicifolia, H. lasiocarpha, H. oleifolia, H. tuberculata and H. varia and the more recently described, H. chromatropa . All are from SW WA.
Notes
Hakea florida is sometimes difficult to distinguish from H. oleifolia (q.v.). Specimens from the Stirling Ra. often have a longer rachis, 6.5–8.5 mm long.
Mature leaves of Hakea florida fall within the 3-12 mm width, with juvenile leaves being up to 25 mm wide. Similarly mature leaves tend to be less toothed than juveniles, having 1-6 teeth compared with up to 10 in juveniles.
Representative specimens
Western Australia: Albany, road to Whaling Stn, H.Demarz 4242 (PERTH); Whoogarup R., near Middle Mount Barren, C.A.Gardner 2974 (PERTH); summit of Nancys Peak, W end of Porongorup Ra., N.Marchant 70/97 (PERTH).
Weblinks
Link to FloraBase treatment of this species for WA.
More photographs of this species can be seen on the Australian National Botanic Gardens site.
Further illustrations
J.A..Young, Hakeas of Western Australia. A Field and Identification Guide 46 (2006)