Plants of
South Australia
Hakea mitchellii
Proteaceae
Desert Hakea,
Heath Needlebush
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Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.
Least concern
Near threatened
Rare
Vulnerable
Endangered
Critically endangered
Extinct
Data deficient
Adelaide
Arkaroola
Ceduna
Coober Pedy
Hawker
Innamincka
Marla
Marree
Mount Gambier
Oodnadatta
Renmark
Wudinna
Keith
Yunta
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Botanical art

Kath Alcock paintings: 7

Prior names

Hakea ulicina var. flexilis

Hakea flexibilis

Hakea flexilis

Hakea muelleriana

Common names

Desert Hakea

Heath Needlebush

Etymology

Hakea, named after Baron Christian Ludwig von Hake (1745-1818), a German horticulturalist and patron of botany. Mitchellii, named after Major Sir Thomas Livingston Mitchell (1792-1855), a surveyor, explorer and botanical collector, including the type of the species.

Distribution and status

Found in southern South Australia, growing in mallee-heath vegetation on calcareous sandy soil. Also found in Victoria. Native. Common in South Australia. Common in Victoria.
Herbarium regions: Eyre Peninsula, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Plant description

Erect rounded shrub to 4 m tall. Leaves uniform or seasonally heteromorphic, subterete to linear and trigonous; rarely obovate-linear, concave; to 120 mm long and 10 mm wide, glabrous; venation not visible in terete leaves; longitudinal veins prominent in trigonous and flat leaves. Inflorescence a solitary axillary cluster with 16–36 white to pink flowers. Flowering between October and January. Fruits are greyish-brown woody ovoid fruit to 25 mm long and 13 mm wide, with a pointed tip. Fruit split into two, to reveal two seeds. Seeds are brown ovoid seed to 5 mm long and 2 mm wide (12 mm long and 5 mm wide including the wing that extend narrowly down both sides of seed). Seed embryo type is investing.

Seed collection and propagation

Collect seeds between January and December. Collect mature woody fruit that are hard, brown and not split. These will contain seeds. Place the woody fruit in a tray and leave to dry until it splits open. Place the dried fruit in a bucket and shake to dislodge the seeds from the valves. Separate the seeds from the fruit and store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 90%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily without pre-treatment.

Seeds stored:
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LocationNo. of seeds
(weight grams)		Number
of plants		Date
collected		Collection number
Collection location		Date
stored		% ViabilityStorage
temperature
BGA 
MSB		2,800 (12.3 g)
2,800 (12.3 g)		516-Sep-2003PJA27
Murray		1-Sep-200490%+5°C, -18°C
Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.
Germination table:
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We acknowledge the contributions of the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water.