''Hakea dohertyi'', commonly known as the Kowmung hakea, is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

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 a restricted locale in the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

in central

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in Australia.

Description

''Hakea dohertyi'' is an upright, linear shrub growing to high. The smaller branches are covered with densely matted, silky hairs at flowering time. The leaves are straight, flexible and triangular in cross-section, long and about wide. The leaves are smooth with three longitudinal veins at an angle to the leaf blade ending in a sharp point. The solitary

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 4-6 cream-white flowers in a

raceme 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 ...

in leaf axils. 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 ...

is cream-white and the style long. The woody oval shaped fruit have a short stalk and grow at an angle to the stem. The fruit are long and wide ending with an obscure beak.

Taxonomy and naming

Kowmung hakea was first formally described by

Laurence Haegi Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...

in 1999 and published in ''Flora of Australia''. ''Hakea dohertyi'' is named after ecologist Michael Doherty who discovered the species.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea dohertyi'' is found in a highly restricted area within

Kanangra-Boyd National Park The Kanangra-Boyd National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Southern Highlands and Macarthur regions, in New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approx ...

, most plants grow near the

Kowmung River The Kowmung River (Gandangara: ''Barnalay''), a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Kowmung River is formed by the c ...

.The total area of its range is . It grows on sandy or rocky soils over shale or quartzite, and is found on ridges in open sclerophyll forest with grey gum (''

Eucalyptus punctata ''Eucalyptus punctata'', commonly known as grey gum, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has smooth grey bark that is shed in patches, lance-shaped, curved or egg-shaped adult leaves flower buds in groups of ...

'', silvertop ash ('' E. sieberi''), Blaxland's stringybark ('' E. blaxlandii''), forest she-oak (''

Allocasuarina torulosa ''Allocasuarina torulosa'', the rose she-oak or forest oak, is a tree which grows in sub-rainforest (just outside the main forest area) of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. There, it is typically found on coastal footslopes, hills, and ...

''), and shrubs such as crinkle bush (''

Lomatia silaifolia ''Lomatia silaifolia'', commonly known as crinkle bush or parsley fern, is a plant of the family, Proteaceae native to eastern Australia. Naturally found in open forest, it grows as a small shrub 1–2 m high with highly pinnate leaves reminiscen ...

''), (''

Stypandra glauca ''Stypandra glauca'', commonly known as the nodding blue lily, is a flowering plant in the family Asphodelaceae. It is a rhizomatous perennial plant with blue lily-like flowers with yellow stamens. It is widespread across southern areas of Aust ...

''), and narrow-leaved geebung ('' Persoonia linearis''). ''Hakea dohertyi'' is killed by bushfire and regenerates from seed stored in a seed bank in its canopy. Most seed is released from the woody follicles after bushfires, but some follicles open and release seed at other times. As the plant requires five years to mature and set seed, bushfires occurring more frequently than this could wipe out the species entirely. The species is currently classified as ''endangered''. It is grazed upon and threatened by wild goats. The rising of the water level of

Lake Burragorang Lake Burragorang is a man-made reservoir in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, serving as a major water supply for greater metropolitan Sydney. The dam impounding the lake, the Warragamba Dam, is located approximately sout ...

could also threaten populations.

Conservation status

''Hakea dohertyi'' is classified as "endangered" by the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5640385 dohertyi Flora of New South Wales Proteales of Australia Plants described in 1999