''Hakea auriculata'' is a reasonably common shrub in the family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

endemic to Western Australia. A very showy species in full bloom with creamy white, yellow, dark red or reddish purple fragrant flowers.

Description

''Hakea auriculata'' is a

lignotuberous A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

compact upright shrub growing to high. Smaller branches are either covered in long soft hairs or smooth. The hairless leaves are egg-shaped wider toward the apex long and wide. Leaves are toothed spaced apart, 1-7 teeth each side, narrower and spinier toward the tip. Leaves may have a sparse covering of matted hairs or smooth. The inflorescence consist of 4-12 pink-cream flowers on a stem long with either short or long soft hairs or smooth. Flowers appear in upper leaf axils from June to October. The greenish white or pink perianth is long. The

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

is long. Fruit are egg-shaped broader toward the stem and long. The surface is rough with numerous curving spines ending with a small blunt beak. Seeds are long with a broad wing on one side only.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea auriculata'' was first formally described by botanist Carl Meissner in 1855 as part of the

William Jackson Hooker Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...

work ''

Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany ''Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany'' was a scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Cont ...

''. 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 ...

''(auriculata)'' is derived from the Latin word ''auricula'' meaning "lobe of the ear" or "little ear" referring to the shape of the base of the leaf.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea auriculata'' is endemic to areas along the west coast in the Wheatbelt and

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

regions of Western Australia between

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and Gingin where it grows in sandy heaths and among stony hills and breakaways sometimes over

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

or granite.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18083662 auriculata Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1855 Taxa named by Carl Meissner