Hakea sp. (seed pods)

Description:

Laughing seed pods sharing a joke :-) Hakea is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the family Proteaceae, all of which are endemic to Australia. There are five species of Hakea known to occur in Girraween. http://www.rymich.com/girraween/index.ph... Possibly a species known as "tree hakea" (Hakea eriantha). It's the perfect height, although the seed pods don't seem to match exactly. Another is "finger hakea" (hakea laevipes ssp. graniticola), but its leaves are noticeably ribbed whereas this spotting is not (4th photo). A third is Hakea florulenta. The leaves of this species are not as prominently veined and are sometimes known to have pointed tips, although are more likely to have rounded ones; my spotting has pointed tips. However, this species is unlikely to exceed a height of 2 metres, and my spotting does. None of these species seem to be an exact fit, so the only way for me to make a positive ID is to take a much closer look and hopefully see the plants in flower. PS: A fourth possibility, in this case another subspecies of H. laevipes, is known to occur on the granite belt, although has not been documented in Girraween - H. l. ssp. laevipes. I will investigate this also.

Habitat:

Spotted on the rocky slopes of Mt. Norman in Girraween National Park. Sunny aspect, although subject to extreme conditions - freezing cold (sometimes snow) in winter, and intense heat in summer. The entire area has just undergone massive bushfires, and drought conditions still prevail. Surrounding vegetation predominately eucalypts and heath plants. http://www.rymich.com/girraween/

Notes:

An excellent reference site - http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/lucid_keys/Ha... I find it surprising how similar to the various Grevillea species that Hakea actually is, but the later is often referred to as the "poor relation". Unlike the Grevillea, however, there has been very little work done in developing new cultivars of Hakea, so... poor relation? There's nothing poor about being totally authentic and 100% pure! Like other well-known Australian Proteaceae natives such as Banksia, Grevillea, Persoonia, etc., Hakea is also a beautiful and uniquely Australian genus that has its own character and has earned its place in the Australian bush.