 Foliage and flowers. Photo © I.Holliday |
 Foliage and flowers; note the yellow pollen on the pollen presenters of the upper flowers, these becoming pink with loss of pollen. Photo © I.Holliday |
 Photo © R.W.Purdie |
 Photo © W.R.Barker |
Synonymy
Hakea lehmanniana Meisn., in J.G.C.Lehmann, Pl. Preiss. 1: 557 (1845)
T: in solo glareoso sterili inter frutices sylvae cis flum. Gordon, Hay, W.A., 7th Nov. 1840, L.Preiss 604 (Sem. n. 86); syn: B, G, LD, LE p.p., MEL, NY; excluded syn: Preiss 604 in P which is H. sericea or H. decurrens
An image of the NY type specimen of Preiss 604 can be seen on the New York Botanical Garden site.
Description
Rounded often sprawling shrub, 0.6–1.6 m tall, resprouting or non-sprouting. Branchlets moderately to densely tomentose at flowering. Leaves almost terete to trigonous, 2–7 cm long, 1–1.5 mm wide or diam., 1.5–2 mm deep when trigonous, glabrous; longitudinal veins 3 at angles (including marginal veins) or not visible.
Inflorescence a solitary axillary umbelliform raceme, grouped to form long brushes, with 12–16 flowers per axil; pedicels grey-blue, glabrous. Perianth opening steel-blue, soon almost white. Pistil 10.5–11.8 mm long; gland a small flap, c. 0.5 mm high.
Fruit 1 or 2 per axil, stalked, obliquely broadly elliptic, 2.2–3 cm long, 1.4–2 cm wide, covered with prickles 1–6 mm long, scarcely beaked. Seed obliquely elliptic, 18–20 mm long, 8–9 mm wide; wing extending down both sides of body and narrowly at base, not notched, dark brown with black patches or streaks.
Distribution and ecology
Occurs in south-western W.A. from York to Manjimup and east to Jerramungup, including in the Porongorup and Stirling Ra.; grows in heath or mallee-heath, in sandy often gravelly lateritic loam soil.
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 June–Aug.
Derivation of name
Named after J.G. Christian Lehmann, editor of Plantae Preissianae, the publication in which this, and many other species of Australian plants, were first described, based upon the collections of Ludwig Preiss.
Relationships
Part of the Conogynoides group recognised by Bentham and characterised by a conical pollen presenter, veined leaves, glabrous perianth and fruits without horns. Barker et al. (1999) recognised a number of informal morphological groups within the section.
One of these was the Ulicina group. This group of 21 Hakea species was combined morphologically because they all have simple flat leaves or leaves which are apparently terete but when looked at in cross section are clearly angled; these angled leaves are longitudinally furrowed and often referred to as sulcate. Furthermore the group has inflorescences with 6-80 small flowers (with 3-18 mm long pistils) and erect woody fruits.
Members of the group are H. aenigma, H. carinata, H. costata, H. cygna, H. dohertyi, H. erecta, H. gilbertii, H. invaginata, H. lehmanniana, H. marginata, H. meisneriana, H. mitchellii, H. myrtoides, H. pycnoneura, H. repullulans, H. rigida, H. scoparia, H. stenocarpa, H. sulcata, H. subsulcata and H. ulicina, mostly from southern WA but also from south-eastern Australia.
The sulcate-leaved members of this group are H. gilbertii, H. invaginata, H. meisneriana, H. rigida, H. scoparia, H. sulcata and H. subsulcata.
Notes
Sparingly grown in cultivation, especially for the unusual striking bluish flowers grouped into long brushes; a closer inspection reveals a bright pink pollen presenter loaded with bright yellow pollen. Fruit in this species are distinctive in being covered with prickles 1–6 mm long.
Representative specimens
W.A.: Tuttanning Reserve, E of Pingelly, K.M.Allen 34 (AD, PERTH); 24 km from Chester Pass Rd along Stirling Range Drive towards Red Gum Pass, E.M.Canning WA/68 6646 (CANB); Wagin, July 1924, C.A.Gardner s.n. (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.Young, Hakeas of W. Australia, Botanical District of Avon 16, 60 (1997)
I. Holliday, Hakeas. A Field and Garden Guide 106-7 (2005)
J.A..Young, Hakeas of Western Australia. A Field and Identification Guide 60 (2006)