''Hakea corymbosa'', commonly known as the cauliflower hakea is a plant of 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 ...

which is endemic to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

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 ...

. An attractive extremely prickly bush with sweetly scented yellowish flowers. The nectar rich blooms and dense form provides a good habitat for wildlife.

Description

''Hakea corymbosa'' is a 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 ...

erect multi-branched shrub growing to high and wide. The young shoots are referred to as "water canes", when mature they develop into a new cluster of foliage. The shrub becomes extremely dense and prickly, the foliage appearing like clusters of "clouds". The narrow waxy leaves are long and wide on lower parts but whorled near the flowers. Leaves are alternately arranged along the stems with a distinct centre vein on the upper side and three on the underside ending in a sharp point. 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 12-18 flowers appearing in profusion in leaf axils. The

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 ...

is long and smooth. The

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 ...

is a pale yellow-green. Woody fruit have a roughish texture, broadly egg-shaped long and wide ending in a short sharp point without a beak. The winged seed measures long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea corymbosa'' was first formally described by the botanist Robert Brown in 1830 as part of the work ''

Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae ''Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae'' ("First supplement to the Prodromus of the flora of New Holland") is an 1830 supplement to Robert Brown's ''Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. It may be referred to ...

''. The type specimen had been collected at King George Sound by William Baxter in 1823. 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 ...

''(corymbosa)'' 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 ...

''corymbus'' meaning "bunch of flowers", "peak" or "top" referring to the flowers growing as a flat top or in a convex arrangement. A lignotuberous form with bright yellow flowers found north of Perth was classified as a separate species, ''

Hakea eneabba ''Hakea eneabba'' is a shrub in the Family (biology), family, Proteaceae and endemism, endemic to an area along the west coast in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia. Description ''Hakea eneabba'' is a low, man ...

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea corymbosa'' is native to the Great Southern, southern Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia from Williams in the west, Albany in the south to Kondinin in the north and Cape Arid in the east. It is found in acid to slightly alkaline, sandy soils over or around

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 ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, in heath or

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

Use in horticulture

''Hakea corymbosa'' can be grown in a sunny location in most soil types, preferring temperate climates receiving over rainfall a year. Plants in a shady spot tend to have elongated growth. It can be grown as a windbreak, hedge or for erosion control. ''Hakea corymbosa'' is recommended for attracting birds as it provides a dense safe haven with its prickly habit and nectar rich flowers as a food source. Propagation is by seed, preferably gathered using gloves due to the prickliness of the foliage.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5640378 corymbosa Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1830 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)