Botanical art
Prior names
Hakea semiplana
Hakea flexilis
Etymology
Hakea, named after Baron Christian Ludwig von Hake (1745-1818), a German horticulturalist and patron of botany. Nodosa, from the Latin 'nodosus' meaning knobby or knotted, referring to the surface of the fruit.
Distribution and status
Found in the South-east in South Australia growing in closed heath and in swampy areas. Also found in Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Uncommon in South Australia. Common in the other States.
Herbarium region: South Eastern
NRM region: South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Spreading, upright or rounded shrub 2 m high. Leaves terete to flattened, to 50 mm long and 2.5 mm wide, glabrous; sometimes grooved below. Inflorescence in clusters with 2-11 cream-white to deep yellow flowers. Flowering between May and August. Fruits are greyish-brown woody ovoid fruit to 35 mm long and 30 mm wide, with a warty surface and short beak. Fruit splits into two, to reveal two seeds. Seeds are black ovoid seed to 8 mm long and 5 mm wide (excluding 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 greyish-brown and not split. These will contain seeds. Place the woody fruit in a tray and leave to dry until it splits open. Fruits can be placed in the oven at low temperatures to achieve the same result. 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 95%. Seeds are non-dormant, viable seed should germinate readily without pre-treatment.
Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BGA MSB | 1,580 (27.44 g) 1,500 (25.97 g) | 31-Jan-2006 | HPV2891 South Eastern | 8-Aug-2006 | 95% | -18°C |