''Hakea ruscifolia'', commonly known as the candle hakea,
is a shrub 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 ...
. It has fragrant white flowers, arching branches and spiky foliage. It is
endemic to an area in the
Peel
Peel or Peeling may refer to:
Places Australia
* Peel (Western Australia)
* Peel Island, Queensland
*Peel, New South Wales
* Peel River (New South Wales)
Canada
* Peel Parish, New Brunswick
* Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated communi ...
,
Wheatbelt South West,
Great Southern and the
Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia.
Description
''Hakea ruscifolia'' is a dense shrub typically growing to high, wide and forms a
lignotuber. Usually branches grow in a columnar habit where the flowers envelop the stems. It blooms from December to June and produces sweetly scented white flowers in leaf axils on short lateral outer branchlets. Thickly crowded leaves are small and
elliptic to
obovate ending with a fine sharp point. Most leaves are long by under wide. The relatively small fruit are smooth, compressed and
ovoid
An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...
shaped long by under wide ending with a small beak.
Taxonomy and naming
''Hakea ruscifolia'' was first formally described by
Jacques Labillardiere in 1805 and the description was published in ''
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen''.
Named from the genus ''Ruscus'' - of the lily family and from the Latin - ''folium'' - leaf.
Distribution and habitat
Candle hakea is a widespread coastal and inland species from
Eneabba to
Augusta and in the east to
Esperance. It grows in heath and scrubland on sand, gravelly clay and
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 ...
. A hardy ornamental species which is tolerant of moderate frost and a good understory shrub.
Conservation status
''Hakea ruscifolia'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government
Department of Parks and Wildlife.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18080691
ruscifolia
Eudicots of Western Australia
Plants described in 1805