Hakea.
An Australian genus of about 140 species with about 28 found in Queensland.
They are shrubs or small trees, some are cultivated and there are a few hybrids.
Evergreen dense or open shrubs or small trees up to 4 or 5 m high.
Small branchlets have hairs lying flat along the surface.
Alternate green or grey-green leaves are from 1.5 to 24 cm long.
They can be simple or divided.
Simple, undivided leaves can be needle-like or flat.
Flat blades can be wide or narrow and both surfaces are similar.
They maybe smooth or have hairs when young then quickly loose them.
There may be 1 or 3 prominent longitudinal veins.
Simple or divided leaves with narrow, cylindrical segments often have a longitudinal groove.
The tips are sharp points or mucros up to 3.5 mm long.
Axillary inflorescences are mostly clusters but occasionally a single flower.
They can be branched or unbranched spikes, tight ball-like clusters or umbel-like.
Each can have from 1 up to around 80 flowers on stalks a few mms long.
The spikes can be up to 15 cm long and the balls 5 cm across.
The stalks can be smooth but often have white or rust-coloured hairs.
Flowers can be cream, white, pink, yellow, greenish, red, purplish or orange.
They produce a lot of nectar from glands at the base of the ovary.
The flowers, with 4 tepals 3 to 12 mm long, are similar to those of grevilleas.
The ovary and style have no hairs (often hairy in grevilleas).
Hakea fruit are woody follicles whereas grevillea fruit are not woody.
They are obliquely ovate and may or may not have a small beak.
Fruit usually do not release the seeds until there is a fire.
The ovate to elliptic seeds are 1 to 2 cm long.
They have a narrow wing on one or both sides.
J.F.
