 Habit, Scott River area, SW WA. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Toothed leaves, dead branch with old opened fruits. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Toothed leaves on short branches, very old fruit. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Hairy branches and rachises, young fruit. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Toothed leaves and mature fruit. Photo © W.R.Barker |
Synonymy
Hakea tuberculata R.Br., Suppl. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 28 (1830)
T: south west coast of New Holland (King George Sound), [Western Australia], 1828/9, W.Baxter s.n.; syn: BM, K p.p., NSW 106073.
Description
Shrub to 2.5 m high; branches ascending, columnar. Branchlets densely hirsute, with hairs ferruginous or white and tomentose, persistent. Leaves rigid, elliptic in cross-section, narrowly elliptic to obovate, 1–2 cm long, 2–6 mm wide, narrowly attenuate, with 3–8 teeth or segments towards apex, sparsely or moderately appressed-sericeous; hairs ferruginous, quickly glabrescent; mucro 1–2 mm long.
Inflorescence with 18–26 flowers; involucre 5 mm long; bracts densely white-villous apically; rachis 2–4 mm long, densely hirsute; pedicels 3–5.5 mm long. Perianth 2.8–3.5 mm long, white. Pistil 5–5.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; gland present.
Fruit obliquely ovate, 1.7–1.8 cm long, 0.8–0.9 cm wide, glabrous, coarsely tuberculate or smooth; horns c. 3 mm long. Seed not seen.
Distribution and ecology
Only known from Augusta to Albany in Western Australia; usually found in winter-wet areas associated with ironstone.
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 Mar.–Apr. (July).
Derivation of name
From tuberculatus, Latin for tuberculate, or covered with wart-like protuberances. Brown described the fruit as such in his first description of this species.
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.
Conservation status
In Western Australia denoted as Priority Three - Poorly Known: taxa which are known from several populations, at least some of which are not believed to be under immediate threat (i.e. not currently endangered). Such taxa are under consideration for declaration as ‘rare flora’, but are in need of further survey.
Atkins, K.J. (2008). Declared Rare and Priority Flora List for
Representative specimens
Western Australia: creekline beside Hunton Rd, c. 500 m N of Nanarup Rd, c. 15 km WNW of Albany, N.Gibson 2502 (AD, PERTH); between King George Sound and Cape Riche, Mar. 1854, W.H.Harvey s.n. (TCD p.p.); King River Rd, Albany, 18 Apr. 1904, A.Morrison s.n. (PERTH); near Albany, F.M.C.Schock 165 (PERTH).
Weblinks
Link to FloraBase treatment of this species for WA.
Further illustrations
J.A..Young, Hakeas of Western Australia. A Field and Identification Guide 114 (2006).