Hakea ochroptera

Hakea ochroptera is a species of shrub native to eastern Australia producing an abundance of cream-white flowers in spring.

Hakea ochroptera
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Hakea
Species:	H. ochroptera
Binomial name
Hakea ochroptera W.R.Barker[1]
Occurrence data from AVH

Description

Hakea ochroptera is a tall shrub or tree to 12 m (40 ft) high with descending branches and does not form a lignotuber. Young growth ie; stems, young leaves and pedicels are hairy and rusty coloured. Needle shaped leaves are narrow and 0.5–1.2 mm (0.02–0.05 in) long and 0.75–1.1 mm (0.03–0.04 in) wide ending with a point 1.1–2.2 mm (0.04–0.09 in) long. Creamy-white flowers appear in umbels of 1-6 flowers in the leaf axils from September to October. Fruit are 3.2–4 cm (1–2 in) long by 2.1–2.3 cm (0.8–0.9 in) wide with small blister-like growths on the surface ending with an obscure or absent horn.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Hakea ochroptera was first formally described in 1996 by South Australian botanist William Barker and the description was published in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.[4] The specific epithet (ochroptera) "derives from the Greek, ochros, yellow, and pteron, wing, alluding to an important diagnostic difference from H. macraeana.[3][5]

Distribution and habitat

Found near Dorrigo in northern New South Wales, it was separated from the similar species H. macraeana. Hakea ochroptera grows in shallow soil on hillsides between rock in light scrub or depauperate warm-temperate rainforest.[2][3]

References

1. "Hakea ochroptera". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
2. R.M. Barker. "New South Wales Flora Online: Hakea ochroptera". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
3. "Hakea ochroptera". Flora of South Australia. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
4. "Hakea ochroptera". APNI. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
5. Barker, William R. (1996). "Novelties and taxonomic notes relating to Hakea (Proteaceae), mainly of eastern Australia" (PDF). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. 17: 187–188. Retrieved 16 July 2019.