''Hakea arborescens'', commonly known as the common hakea or the yellow hakea, is a shrub or tree of the genus ''

Hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes d ...

'' native to parts of northern Australia.

Description

The tall shrub or tree typically grows to a height of . The bark on the trunk and larger branches is rough, fissured and grey in colour. The sessile evergreen leaves have a linear to narrowly oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic shape and are in length and wide. It blooms from January to July and produce yellow-cream flowers. Each axillary unbranched

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is long and clustered in heads. It has a free, silvery to rusty coloured

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

and a conical pollen presenter. The thick woody beaked fruit that form after flowering are an ellipsoidal shape in length and across. The fruits contain two obovoid shaped black seeds that are in length with a membranous yellow wing.

Taxonomy

''Hakea arborescens'' was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810 as part of the work ''On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae'' as published in ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''arborescens'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

meaning "becoming tree-like" referring to the habit of the shrub.

Distribution

''Hakea arborescens'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

top end The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and northern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It is often found among coastal dunes, inland on soils that are

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

, along creek banks or in low-lying areas such as swamps. ''Hakea arborescens'' is often found growing over and around areas of sandstone, quartzite and limestone and usually part of monsoon forest or ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' woodland communities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18083120 arborescens Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)