''Hakea neospathulata'' is a flowering plant 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 ...

and is

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 Western Australia. It is a small, dense shrub with clusters of red flowers.

Description

''Hakea neospathulata'' is a dense shrub with spreading branches, that typically grows to a height of and has either smooth or hairy branchlets. The leaves are blue-grey, smooth, narrowly oval to oval shaped, arranged alternately, long and wide, gradually narrowing, with prickly toothed margins, and tapering to a point long. 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 ...

are usually borne in clusters of 6-14 flowers in lower leaf axils, sometimes in upper axils or old wood on a 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 long, 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 ...

long and dark red or purplish. Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit surface smooth in between sharp points ending with two short horns at the apex.

Taxonomy and naming

This hakea was first described in 1870 by George Bentham who gave it the name ''Hakea auriculata'' var. ''spathulata'' in '' Flora Australiensis''. In 1990,

Robyn Mary Barker Robyn M. Barker (born 1948) is an Honorary Research Associate of the South Australian Herbarium. She now works part-time, her duties include maintenance of the Vascular Plant Census for the State. Barker's research interests also include syst ...

raised the variety to species status as ''Hakea spathulata'', noting that '' H. auriculata'' has greenish-white, cream-coloured or pink flowers near the ends of branches, whereas ''H. spathulata'' has deep red flowers usually found among older brown leaves. However, the name ''H. spathulata'' was illegitimate as it had already been validly published by

Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen (1849–1894) was a Russian botanist of German descent, known for his studies of East-European plants. Early life and education Johannes Theodor Schmalhausen was born in St Petersburg. His father was a librarian a ...

in 1883 as the name of a fossil hakea species found in Russia. In her 2006 book, ''Hakeas of Western Australia : a field and identification guide'', Jennifer A. Young gave the distribution of ''H. spathulata'' as being limited to the area between the Murchison River and

Dandaragan Dandaragan is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. The name of Dandaragan was first recorded in 1850 as the name of a nearby gulley and spring or watering hole known as Dandaraga spring. The word is Indigenous Australian i ...

, and described the species as being "protected". In 2014,

Ian Mark Turner Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in S ...

raised the name ''Hakea neospathulata'' to replace the illegitimate ''H. spathulata''. 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 ...

(''neospathulata'') means "new-spathulate", referring to the new name for ''H. spathulata''.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea neospathulata'' is found at lower altitudes in sand and loam in scrubland, heath and sometimes in wet locations from the Murchison River and south to Dandaragan in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains,

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

biogeographical regions of south-western Western Australia.

Conservation status

This hakea is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) is the Western Australian government The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state de ...

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q42890295 neospathulata Eudicots of Western Australia Taxa named by George Bentham