 Photo © D.Jones |
 Photo © D.Jones |
Synonymy
Hakea pedunculata F.Muell., Australas. Chem. Druggist 6(63): 23 (1883)
T: Endeavour River, Qld, 1883, W.Persieh s.n.; lecto: MEL 1537929, fide R.M.Barker, Nuytsia 12: 5 (1998); isolecto: BRI 259703, K; ?isolecto: BRI 260982, K.
Description
Shrub or small tree, often gnarled, 1–5 m high; bark dark, finely fissured. Branchlets red, ±glabrous. Leaves flat, narrowly to broadly obovate, 5–10 cm long, 8–20 (–25) mm wide, initially densely appressed shining-white-pubescent, very quickly glabrescent; apex rounded, blackened, sometimes very shortly mucronate.
Peduncle simple, sometimes more than 1 per axil, 6.5–25 mm long, subglabrous; rachis 2–10 mm long, white-pubescent. Flowers up to 40 per inflorescence, greenish white to cream-white; pedicels 5.5–7.5 mm long, ±glabrous except at junction with perianth. Perianth 3.5–4 mm long, white-pubescent, quickly glabrescent on claw, persistently hairy on limb. Pistil 8.5–12 mm long; style recurved or ±straight; pollen presenter oblique to lateral.
Fruit obliquely ovate or elliptic, 2–3 cm long, 1–1.2 cm wide, gradually attenuate into recurved apiculum c. 2–3 mm long. Seed c. 20 mm long, 7 mm wide, occupying whole valve.
Distribution and ecology
Occurs north of Cooktown on Cape York Peninsula, Qld, and adjacent islands. Found in low open shrubland dominated by Melaleuca, often on the landward fringes of mangroves or in semi-swamp areas.
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 Apr.–Aug. with occasional earlier records in Feb.
Derivation of name
From pedunculus, Latin for peduncle, the stalk beneath the flower- bearing part of the inflorescence. In this particular species it is much longer than in other species of Hakea.
Relationships
Part of the Pedunculata Group of Barker et al. (1999), this group of 4 species (H. arborescens, H. pedunculata, H. persiehana and H. stenophylla) is held together morphologically by the possession of a bare peduncle below the rachis. They also have obscurely-veined leaves, oblique or conical pollen presenters, hairy perianths and woody fruits without horns.
While Bentham referred them to the Grevilleoides, presumably because they may sometimes have a corky bark, it seems likely that these will eventually prove to be an artificial group, with H. arborescens and H. persiehana being closely related but probably not close to H. pedunculata and H. stenophylla. Molecular studies by Mast (unpubl.) have already shown the former but the latter two species were not included in the study.
Representative specimens
Qld: Big Ck, Prince of Wales Is., Torres Strait, E.Cameron 20318 (QRS); 10.8 km from Nutwood Crossing of Edward R. on track to Holroyd R., Edward River Aboriginal Reserve, J.R.Clarkson 3528 (BRI, CANB, DNA, K, MO, NA, NSW, PERTH, QRS); 6 km from Cooktown on Cairns road, L.A.Craven 3207 (BRI, CANB, MEL); Alligator Ck, S of Mapoon, Weipa, A.Morton 1076 (MEL); Marrett R, Princess Charlotte Bay, J.A.Elsol & T.D.Stanley 673 (BRI).
Further illustrations
W.R.Elliot & D.L.Jones, Encycl. Austral. Pl. 5: 222 (1990).