Striped hakea facts for kids

Hakea vittata, often called the striped hakea or hooked needlewood, is a unique shrub. It belongs to the plant family called Proteaceae. You can find this plant mainly in parts of South Australia, especially on the Eyre Peninsula and in the Gawler Ranges. It also grows in a few small areas in eastern Victoria.

What Does Hakea Vittata Look Like?

The Hakea vittata plant is usually a low-growing or sprawling shrub. It can grow anywhere from just 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) tall up to 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) tall. This plant has a special woody swelling at its base called a lignotuber. A lignotuber helps the plant regrow after a fire.

Its smooth, white branches are covered with short, soft hairs. The leaves look like needles and are about 2 to 8 centimeters (0.8 to 3.1 inches) long. They are straight and smooth, ending in a sharp point.

Flowers and Fruit

From August to November, you can see reddish-white flowers on the plant. These flowers grow in groups of 8 to 14 where the leaves meet the stem. The main flower stalk is reddish-brown and covered in soft, flat hairs.

Each flower has white Sepals (which are like small leaves protecting the bud) and petals. The style (a part of the flower that helps with reproduction) is about 9.2 to 11.5 millimeters (0.36 to 0.45 inches) long.

After flowering, the plant produces woody, brown fruits. These fruits are egg-shaped and can be smooth, wrinkled, or warty. They are about 1.3 to 2.4 centimeters (0.5 to 0.9 inches) long and 0.9 to 1.5 centimeters (0.35 to 0.59 inches) wide. Each fruit ends with a small, blister-like beak and short, noticeable horns.

Special Features

Hakea vittata has two cool features that help tell it apart from other similar plants.

• Sometimes, you might see "witches broom" galls on the plant. These are dense masses of shoots growing from a single spot, almost like a tangled bird's nest. Galls are abnormal growths caused by insects or fungi.
• The fruit of Hakea vittata splits open in a special way. It only splits past the seed tip on the side where the reddish-brown wood zone is.

How Hakea Vittata Got Its Name

The Hakea vittata was first officially described by a botanist named Robert Brown. He wrote about it in a scientific paper called On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae.

The second part of its scientific name, vittata, comes from a Latin word. "Vittatus" means "longitudinally-striped." This name refers to the markings you can see on the fruit of the plant.

Where Hakea Vittata Grows

The hooked needlewood, or Hakea vittata, is found in the southern parts of South Australia. This includes places like Kangaroo Island and the Fleurieu Peninsula. It usually grows in sandy areas with mallee scrub, often on limestone soil.