Hakea carinata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hakea carinata |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Hakea
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| Species: |
carinata
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| Occurrence data from AVH | |
Hakea carinata is a type of shrub that belongs to the Proteaceae plant family. It grows naturally in parts of South Australia. This plant is tough and can handle frost. It's a small to medium-sized shrub that can grow well in different places, as long as the soil drains water easily. Its spiky branches make a safe home for many small animals.
What Hakea carinata Looks Like
Hakea carinata is an upright shrub. It usually grows to be about 1.5 to 3 metres (4.9 to 9.8 ft) tall. Its leaves are flexible and smooth. They are flat and long, or sometimes shaped like a triangle or a boat when you look at them from the side. These leaves can be 5 to 24 centimetres (2 to 9 in) long and 1 to 12 millimetres (0.0 to 0.5 in) wide. They have clear veins along their edges.
When the plant flowers, its smaller branches might have fine, flat hairs. Sometimes they are smooth. The plant produces single groups of flowers, called an inflorescence. Each group has 8 to 24 cream-white flowers. These flowers grow where the leaves meet the stem.
The small stalks that hold the flowers, called pedicels, are pink and smooth. They might sometimes have a few silky hairs. The main part of the flower, called the perianth, is cream-white. The style, which is part of the flower's reproductive system, is 3 to 6 millimetres (0.118 to 0.236 in) long.
After flowering, the plant grows fruits. These fruits have a short stem and are shaped like a narrow oval or an egg. They are 1.3 to 2.6 cm (0.51 to 1.02 in) long and 0.6 to 1.1 cm (0.24 to 0.43 in) wide. Each fruit has a long, narrow beak that is straight or slightly curved at the top. Inside the fruit are blackish-brown seeds. These seeds are also shaped like a narrow oval or an egg. They are 1.0 to 1.8 cm (0.39 to 0.71 in) long and 4 to 6.5 mm (0.157 to 0.256 in) wide. Each seed has a wing on both sides. Hakea carinata flowers in spring, usually from September to October.
How Hakea carinata Got Its Name
The plant Hakea carinata was first officially described in 1854. This was done by a botanist named Carl Meissner. He wrote about it in a science journal called Linnaea.
The second part of its name, carinata, comes from a Latin word. It means "keeled," which refers to the bottom part of a boat. This name might describe the shape of the plant's leaves. They can look like a triangle or a boat when you cut them in half.
Where Hakea carinata Grows
This type of hakea plant is found in different spots. You can see it in the southern parts of the Flinders Ranges and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia. There are also a couple of small groups of these plants growing by themselves in the southeast of the state, near a place called Padthaway.
Hakea carinata often grows as part of the plants found under taller trees in dry sclerophyll forests. It also grows in areas with scrub-heath plants. It prefers to grow in sandy soils or soils that have a mix of sand and clay.
