''Hakea neurophylla'', commonly known as the pink-flowered hakea, is a shrub of the genus ''

Hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes d ...

'' native to a small area near

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 ...

in the Wheatbelt region of

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 ...

Description

An erect non-sprouting shrub typically grows to a height of .

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 ...

of fragrant blooms appear from July to August in profusion in white or pale pink-red along the branchlets in the leaf axils. Inflorescences are solitary with 12 to 18 scented flowers with glabrous

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

. Blue-grey leaves are obovate to elliptic and sometimes undulate long and wide and narrowly cuneate at the base. Leaves have 3 prominent longitudinal veins on both sides ending in a blunt point. Large blackish-brown fruit are obliquely

ovate Ovate may refer to: *Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe *Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd *Vates In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...

, from long and wide, obscurely beaked, with a dorsal longitudinal ridge on each valve.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea neurophylla'' was first formally described by Carl Meisner in 1855. Named from the Greek word ''neuron'' - nerve and ''phyllon'' leaf, a reference to the prominent veins in the leaves.

Distribution and habitat

''Hakea neurophylla'' is a rare species restricted to the Mt Lesueur - Eneabba area north of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in heathland sand 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 ...

usually on ridge tops.

Conservation status

''Hakea neurophylla'' is classified as Priority Four - Rare 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18080132 neurophylla Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1855