Hakea stenophylla facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hakea stenophylla |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Hakea
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| Species: |
stenophylla
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| Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium | |
The Hakea stenophylla is a type of shrub or small tree. It belongs to the plant family called Proteaceae. This plant is special because it has creamy-white flowers that smell sweet. You can only find it growing naturally in Western Australia.
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The Hakea stenophylla is usually a spreading shrub or a small tree. It can grow up to 5 metres (16 ft) tall. Its bark is mostly smooth and dark.
Branches and Leaves
The young branches of this plant are covered with soft, flat, white hairs. Sometimes these hairs can be a rusty color. As the branches get older, they become smooth.
The leaves are a grey-green color. They are long and narrow, like a line or a very thin egg shape. They measure about 6 to 12 centimetres (2.4 to 4.7 in) long and 1 to 4 millimetres (0.039 to 0.157 in) wide. When they first grow, the leaves also have soft, rusty-colored hairs. These hairs soon disappear, making the leaves smooth. Each leaf ends with a short, pointed hook.
Flowers and Fruit
The flowers of the Hakea stenophylla are cream-white and smell sweet. They grow in groups of 10 to 16 flowers. Each group of flowers grows on a small stalk, which is covered in soft white hairs.
After the flowers, the plant produces woody fruits. These fruits are shaped like an oval or a slanted egg. They are about 3 to 4.5 cm (1.2 to 1.8 in) long and 2 to 2.6 cm (0.8 to 1.0 in) wide. The fruit narrows suddenly into a black, beak-like tip. Inside the fruit are seeds. Each seed is about 17 to 23 mm (0.669 to 0.906 in) long and 9.5 to 16 mm (0.374 to 0.630 in) wide. They have a wing along one side to help them spread.
Plant Names and Types
The Hakea stenophylla was officially named by a botanist named Robert Brown in 1830. He wrote about it in a book called Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae.
What Does the Name Mean?
The second part of its scientific name, stenophylla, comes from two ancient Greek words. "Stenos" means "narrow," and "phyllon" means "leaf." So, stenophylla means "narrow-leaf," which describes the plant's long, thin leaves.
Different Types of Hakea stenophylla
There are two main types, or subspecies, of Hakea stenophylla:
- Hakea stenophylla subsp. notialis: This type is a spreading shrub that grows up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall.
- Hakea stenophylla subsp. stenophylla: This type is an upright small tree or shrub that can grow up to 4 m (13 ft) tall.
You can also tell these two subspecies apart by how thick the woody fruit parts are.
Where It Lives
The Hakea stenophylla only grows in certain parts of Western Australia. It is found in the Mid West and Gascoyne regions.
It likes to grow in sandy areas, like sandplains and coastal sand dunes. You can often find it in sandy or loamy soils, especially around limestone. It sometimes grows alongside a type of grass called spinifex.
