 Habit and habitat. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Flattened and terete leaves; open fruit on bush. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Terete leaves, inflorescences and fruits; these fruits are less woody, already open and the seeds dispersed. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Terete leaves, inflorescences and fruits; these fruits are less woody, already open and the seeds dispersed. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Terete leaves, involucral buds and fruits; these fruits are woodier and retained longer than in some other populations. Photo © W.R.Barker |
 Terete leaves, involucral buds and fruits; these fruits are woodier and retained longer than in some other populations. Photo © W.R.Barker |
Synonymy
Hakea microcarpa R.Br., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 10: 182 (1810)
T: Van Diemen's Land: Port Dalrymple, [Tas.], 10 Jan. 1804, R.Brown 15; syn: B, BM, E, G, K, MEL.
Hakea patula R.Br., Suppl. Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holl. 27 (1830); Hakea microcarpa var. patula (R.Br.) Domin, Biblioth. Bot. 89: 593 (1921). T: ora orient., mont. Port Jackson, [Blue Mountains? N.S.W.], without date, C.Fraser s.n.; ?holo: BM.
Hakea microcarpa var. bathurstiana Meisn., in A.L.P.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 400 (1856). T: Lower Monero, N.S.W., without date, J.Lhotsky 315; syn: NY p.p.; Cox's R., Bathurst, N.S.W., 1822, A.Cunningham 51; syn: BM p.p., NY p.p.; Bathurst, N.S.W., without date, Col. W.Paterson s.n.; syn: NY; New South Wales, western interior, 1817, A.Cunningham s.n. (Oxley's 1st Exped.); syn: BM, NY; Australian Alps, without date, F.Mueller s.n.; syn: L.
Images of the NY type specimens of Cunningham 51 & s.n., Paterson and Lhotsky 315 can be seen on the New York Botanical Garden site.
Hakea bifrons Meisn., in A.L.P.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 400 (1856). T: in collibus ... promontorii Wilsoni, [Vic.], May 1853, F.Mueller s.n.; ?holo: MEL 674175.
Hakea glabriflora Gand., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 66: 229 (1919). T: Oxley Plains, ?N.S.W., Dec. 1885, G.Betche s.n.; lecto: LY p.p., fide D.J.McGillivray, Contr. New South Wales Natl. Herb. 4: 342 (1973).
Hakea microcarpa var. tasmannica Meisn., in A.L.P.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 400 (1856). T: ad fretum d'Entrecasteaux, without date, coll. unknown; syn: G-DC; van Diemen's Land, [Tas.], without date, R.Gunn 20; syn: NY (Torrey herb.); Tasmania, without date, R.Gunn 210; ?syn: OXF; Glen Leith, 2 Feb. 1840, R.C.Gunn 20/1842; ?isosyn: HO. An image of the NY type specimen of Gunn 20 (labelled as Gunn 10) can be seen on the New York Botanical Garden site.
Description
Shrub 0.6–2 m tall, often wider than high. Branchlets and young leaves appressed-pubescent, glabrescent by flowering. Leaves terete and/or flat; flat leaves rigid, narrowly elliptic, 3–11 cm long, 1.5–3.5 mm wide, cuneate, entire, rounded or sometimes terete at apex, with mucro 1–3.5 mm long; terete leaves 1–14 cm long, 0.9–1.6 mm wide, not grooved.
Inflorescence with 6–12 flowers; involucre 2.5–3 mm long; rachis 1.5–2 mm long, with tomentose and appressed ferruginous hairs; pedicels 2.5–7 mm long, glabrous. Perianth 2.5–3.5 mm long, white, glabrous. Pistil 6–9 mm long.
Fruit obliquely elliptic, 1.1–1.9 cm long, 5–9 mm wide, smooth or rugose; apiculum obscure; horns 2–3 mm long. Seed 7–12 mm long; wing partly down one side of seed body only.
Distribution and ecology
Common along the east coast of Australia from Stanthorpe in Qld to Tas. Occurs in subalpine bogs or woodland.
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 Sept.–Feb.
Derivation of name
From micro-, Greek for small and -carpa, Greek for -fruit, a reference to the small fruit of this species.
Relationships
Part of Section Hakea of Bentham (as Euhakea) and characterised by a non-conical pollen presenter, leaves without obvious venation, perianths with or without hairs and fruits with or without horns. Barker et al. (1999) recognised a number of informal morphological groups within the section.
The Microcarpa group all share the characteristics of needle leaves, oblique pollen presenter and non-woody, beaked, and sometimes horned, fruits which are not retained for any length of time on the bushes.
Members of the group are H. collina, H. microcarpa, H. recurva and H. standleyensis.
Notes
There are two races, one including the type (thin-walled fruit and terete leaves) and the other including var. bathurstiana or H. patula (thicker-walled fruit and terete leaves) which are possibly worth recognising. It is also true that specimens from New England and Qld are predominantly flat-leaved and thicker-fruited. However, while the extremes are easily recognisable, the vast majority of specimens are not readily classifiable. Field studies are desirable before any attempt is made to delineate taxa within the species.
Mr Alf Salkin (pers. comm.) suggests that the flat leaves of the New England populations only exist in young plants (a fact supported by notes on collections), and that adult leaves of plants from this area are terete and longer and wider spaced than those of southern populations. He also maintains New England populations are much more spectacular in their flowering.
Representative specimens
Qld: near Eukey, 20 km SW of Stanthorpe, L.Pedley 1543 (BRI). N.S.W.: lower W slopes of Tinderry Mtns, T.G.Hartley 13489 (BRI, CANB). Vic.: 7 km NE of Slippery Pinch signpost, Omeo–Mt Hotham road, E.H.Norris 365 (NSW). Tas.: 5 km from Great L. on Bronte road, N.T.Burbidge 3428 (CANB, HO).
Weblinks
Link to PlantNET treatment.
More photographs of this species can be seen on the Australian National Botanic Gardens site and on the
Further illustrations
I. Holliday, Hakeas. A Field and Garden Guide 128-9 (2005)