''Hakea cinerea'', commonly known as ashy or grey hakea, is a 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 ...

native to areas along the south coast in the Goldfields-Esperance 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 ...

. It is a showy ornamental species bearing creamy-white flowers aging to orange with contrasting ash coloured grey-green leaves. Hakea cinerea flowers

Description

''Hakea cinerea'' is a rounded, rigid, non-

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 ...

shrub typically growing to a height of with ascending branches. The

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 ...

consists of 40-56 large showy creamy-white and yellow flowers turning orange with age in clusters in the leaf axils from August to November. The smooth

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

s are long. The style is long. Attractive stiff blue-grey leaves are rounded, long and wide tapering to a blunt point at the apex. Leaves are yellow at the base with 3 prominent grey-green longitudinal veins, 1-3 above and 3-6 on the underside. The small narrow fruit have a slightly rough surface and grow erect in groups of 1-5 in leaf axils are long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea cinerea'' was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1810 and 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 ...

(''cinerea'') 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 ...

word ''cinereus'' meaning "of ashes", "ash coloured" or "ashen", referring to the colour of the foliage.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea cinerea'' is found from

Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...

to Esperance and

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

. Has also been recorded at

Point Culver Point Culver is a headland on the south coast of Western Australia. It is located at 32° 54' S 124° 41' E, near the western end of the Great Australian Bight. The point marks the western end of the Baxter Cliffs, which extend eastwards for nearl ...

at the western end of the Great Australian Bight. This species grows in a well-drained sunny site, preferring low-lying deep sand in heath, gravelly soils or low scrubland. An ornamental species good for windbreak or wildlife habitat.

Conservation status

''Hakea cinerea'' is presently classified "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18084185 cinerea Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1810 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)