Biology:Hakea mitchellii

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Short description: Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from South Australia and Victoria

Desert hakea
Hakea mitchellii.jpg
Hakea mitchellii in the ANBG
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Hakea
Species:
H. mitchellii
Binomial name
Hakea mitchellii
Meisn.[1]
Hakea mitchellii DistMap.jpg
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms

Hakea muelleriana J.M.Black

Hakea mitchellii, commonly known as desert hakea,[2] is a shrub species in the family Proteaceae.

Description

Hakea mitchellii is a dense rounded medium to large shrub between 1–4 m (3–10 ft) high and wide and does not form a lignotuber. Leaves vary from terete, linear to ovate are 3.5–10 cm (1–4 in) long and 1–10 cm (0.4–4 in) wide. Profuse showy white or cream flowers appear in racemes in the leaf axils between October and January in the species' native range. Ellipsoidal to ovoid shaped fruit 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) long by 0.5–1.5 cm (0.2–0.6 in) wide tapering to a small beak.[3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1856 by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner and the description was published in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.[6][7] The type specimen was collected near Pyramid Hill during Thomas Livingston Mitchell's 1836 expedition.[5][8] Hakea mitchellii was named after Mitchell to honour the collector of the species.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Desert hakea grows in mallee-heath vegetation on calcareous sandy soil. Mainly a South Australian species occurring on Eyre, Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas, Kangaroo Island and south of the Murray River to Naracoorte, extending into western Victoria.[5][4]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q5640397 entry