''Hakea loranthifolia'' is a shrub 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 ...

'' and is endemic to Western Australia. It has an open growth habit, stiff egg-shaped leaves with longitudinal veins, smooth grey bark and white flowers from July to September.

Description

''Hakea loranthifolia'' is an upright, open shrub typically growing to a height of . It is a sparingly branched shrub with smooth branchlets by flowering. The green leaves have an elliptic to egg-shape that is rarely undulate, long and wide. The leaves have one to three longitudinal veins on the top and three to five underneath, tapering at the base, smooth edges and gradually tapering at the apex. The inflorescence consists of 10-16 white flowers in a cluster of 1-3 per leaf axil. Flowering occurs from July to September. 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 ...

are smooth, the perianth white and

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'' ...

long. The fruit are smooth, egg-shaped and taper to an upward curving beak, long and wide.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by the botanist Carl Meissner in 1845 as part of Johann Georg Christian Lehmann's work ''Proteaceae. Plantae Preissianae''. 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 ...

means "'' Loranthus''-leaved".

Distribution

It is endemic to an area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia between Northam in the north down to Narrogin in the south. It is found in sandy gravelly soils often 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 ...

. It is often found on and around breakaways and is a part of the understorey in open ''

Eucalyptus wandoo ''Eucalyptus wandoo'', commonly known as wandoo, dooto, warrnt or wornt, is a small to medium-sized tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of nine to sev ...

'' and ''

Eucalyptus accedens ''Eucalyptus accedens'', commonly known as smooth bark wandoo or powderbark wandoo is a species of tree endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Although the common names suggest it is similar to wandoo, (''Eucalyptus wandoo''), the two ...

'' woodland communities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18080586 loranthifolia Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1845 Taxa named by Carl Meissner