''Hakea sericea'', commonly known as bushy needlewood or silky hakea, is a large shrub with a profusion of mainly white flowers from July for several months. It 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 eastern Australia. It has become an environmental weed in some countries.

Description

''Hakea sericea'' is a large spreading, bushy shrub and may grow to and does not form a

lignotuber A lignotuber is a woody swelling of the root crown possessed by some plants as a protection against destruction of the plant stem, such as by fire. Other woody plants may develop basal burls as a similar survival strategy, often as a response t ...

. The branchlets are densely covered in grey-whitish short, soft, woolly hairs. 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 ...

appear in

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

s of 1–6 flowers in leaf axils, pinkish in bud and maturing to white. The inflorescence

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

is long and thickly covered in woolly, short, matted white hairs toward the end and rusty coloured at the base. 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 ...

s are long, slight to densely covered with long white hairs. The smooth

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 ...

is long and the

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 needle-shaped leaves are grooved on the undersurface and up to long and wide and ending in a sharp point long. The leaves are moderately covered with flattened silky hairs, quickly becoming smooth. The fruit are rough and coarsely wrinkled with a network of veins on the surface, long and wide ending with a short, broad beak to long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Hakea sericea'' was first formally described by Heinrich Schrader and

Johann Christoph Wendland Johann Christoph Wendland (July 17, 1755 – July 27, 1828) was a German botanist and gardener born in Petit-Landau, Alsace. Family His son, Heinrich Ludolph Wendland (1791–1869), and his grandson, Hermann Wendland (1825–1903), ...

in 1797 and published the description in ''Sertum Hannoveranum''. The genus ''Hakea'' is named after Baron von Hake, patron of botany in the 18th century. ''Sericea'' meaning silky, referring to the tiny hairs on young growth.

Distribution and habitat

Silky hakea is found from the coast and adjacent ranges of south-eastern Queensland to south-eastern New South Wales. A frost tolerant species, grows in well-drained soil and full sun. A good habitat plant due to its prickly habit and winter flowering. It is also naturalised in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and possibly South Australia. ''H. sericea'' is an invasive weed in some areas outside Australia, specifically in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

.Weedbusters NZ: Needlebush.
Retrieved 8 December 2018.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3283002 sericea Endemic flora of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Garden plants of Australia Plants described in 1797