''Hakea cygna'', commonly known as the swan hakea, is usually a dense shrub

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 ...

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 ...

with creamy-white upright flowers appearing from July to August.

Description

''Hakea cygna'' is an upright 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 growing to high. The smaller branches are densely covered in flattened silky hairs at flowering time. The leaves are variable, they may be flat and thick, narrowly egg-shaped widest in the middle, more or less needle-shaped or triangular in cross-section. Leaves are smooth long and wide with prominent veins on the leaf margin. The upper side of the leaves has 1-3 obscure longitudinal veins, the underside veins barely visible. 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 6-14 creamy-white flowers in

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

, appearing upright and singly in leaf axils. The cream-white

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 smooth, rarely with soft short flattened hairs. 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 ...

a cream-white and the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is long. The oval to egg-shaped fruit are long and wide growing at an angle on a short thick stalk. The fruit is barely beaked but has a short prominent point. The seed are pale brown with darker streaks are broadly egg-shaped to almost triangular or circular and long. Flowers appear either from May to June or August to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea cygna'' was first formally described by Byron Barnard Lamont in 1987 and published in the ''

Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society The ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, mo ...

''. 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 ...

''(cygna)'' 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 ''cygnus'' meaning "swan", referring to the shape of the fruit believed to resemble that of a swan. Two subspecies of '' Hakea cygna'' have been recognised. *''Hakea cygna subsp. cygna'' has flat, thick, linear to narrowly egg-shaped leaves wide. Restricted to an area south of

Lake King Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...

. *''Hakea cygna subsp. needlei'' has variable leaves either narrowly linear, needle-shaped or triangular in cross-section and wide.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea cygna'' is widely distributed from

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

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 ...

in the south-east and east to

Cape Arid Cape Arid National Park is a national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance and lies on the shore of the south coast from the eastern end of the Recherche Archipelago. The bay at its east ...

. It grows in heath or mallee-heath on gravelly loams, sandy loams, white yellow or grey sand, often 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 ...

. * Subspecies ''cygna'' is widespread from Eneabba in the north to the

wheatbelt region of Western Australia The Wheatbelt is one of nine regions of Western Australia defined as administrative areas for the state's regional development, and a vernacular term for the area converted to agriculture during colonisation. It partially surrounds the P ...

to Merredin and south to Esperance. * Subspecies ''needlei'' has a restricted distribution with scattered populations just south of Lake King and in the

Pallarup Nature Reserve The Dunn Rock and Lake King, Western Australia, Lake King Important Bird Area is a 759 km2 irregularly shaped tract of land in the south-eastern Wheatbelt (Western Australia), wheatbelt region of Western Australia. It lies about 380 k ...

Conservation status

''Hakea cygna subsp. needlei'' is classified as " Priority Two" 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 ...

meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakea cygna Eudicots of Western Australia cygna Plants described in 1987