''Hakea stenophylla'' is a shrub or tree in the family ''

Proteacea 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 Prote ...

'', with sweetly scented creamy-white flowers. 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 Western Australia.

Description

''Hakea stenophylla'' is a spreading shrub or tree typically growing to high with more or less smooth, dark bark. The branchlets are thickly covered with flattened, soft white hairs, occasionally rusty coloured. The surface quickly becoming smooth. The grey-green leaves are linear to narrowly egg-shaped long and wide. The leaves are initially thickly covered with flattened, rusty coloured, smooth soft hairs quickly becoming smooth. The leaves taper abruptly to a short pointed hook at the apex. 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 ...

consists of 10 to 16 cream-white, sweetly scented flowers on a

peduncle Peduncle may refer to: *Peduncle (botany), a stalk supporting an inflorescence, which is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed *Peduncle (anatomy), a stem, through which a mass of tissue is attached to a body **Peduncle (art ...

long that is densely covered with white, soft hairs. The individual flowers are on a stem 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 that is recurved to a claw. 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'' ...

is long with a recurved style and an oblique pollen presenter. The woody fruit are elliptic or obliquely egg-shaped, long and wide, abruptly narrowing with an upright or recurved black beak. The seeds within are long and wide with a wing down one side of seed body.

Taxonomy

The species was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1830 from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham and Brown's description was published in ''

Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae ''Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae'' ("First supplement to the Prodromus of the flora of New Holland") is an 1830 supplement to Robert Brown's ''Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. It may be referred to ...

''. 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 ...

''(stenophylla)'' is derived from the Greek ''stenos'' meaning "narrow" and ''phyllon'' meaning "leaf" referring to the shape of the leaves. There are two recognized

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: *''Hakea stenophylla'' subsp. ''notialis''

R.M.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 ...

A spreading shrub up to high. *''Hakea stenophylla'' R.Br. subsp. ''stenophylla'' An erect small tree or shrub to high. Both subspecies are also distinguished by their differing fruit valve thickness.

Distribution

''H. stenophylla'' is endemic to an area in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

and the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

regions 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 ...

where it is found on sandplains and among coastal sand dunes where it grows in sandy and loamy soils often around

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

usually with spinifex.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18082585 stenophylla Eudicots of Western Australia Plants described in 1830 Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)