Hakea decurrens subsp. decurrens

Bushy Needlewood at Symonston, ACT

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Identification history

	Hakea decurrens subsp. decurrens	27 Mar 2018	BettyDonWood
	Hakea sp.	27 Mar 2018	Mike

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User's notes

Large plant has died but many seedlings and young shrubs about 1m tall.

3 comments

BettyDonWood wrote:

28 Mar 2018

Being so close to the road, the parent plant might have been planted. It might be a good idea to keep an eye out for it to flower in case it is Hakea sericea rather than decurrens. Though with the red stems on young growth it probably is actually decurrens. The seed cases in the two species are very similar, which is why I have not suggested decurrens.

Mike wrote:

28 Mar 2018

I had just taken some other photos when I got your comment and have added them though they don't show flowers. PlantNet says H. decurrens fruit has warts and H. sericea has wrinkles. From that I would say this is H. sericea but the shape and size of the colours of the wood might also be diagnostic.

BettyDonWood wrote:

28 Mar 2018

I think the comments in Plantnet on wartiness/wrinkles of the fruit of these two species refers to fruit that has fully dried out in a herbarium setting. It is not clear cut in the field. Both Plantnet and Vicflora separate the two species on the length of the gynaecium (referred to by the older term pistil in Vicflora). If you look at the photos of decurrens in fruit on CNM they look very like your photo.
With regard to the wood thickness inside the fruit, Plantnet says sericea has about equal layers of wood on either side of the seed cavity, and decurrens subsp. decurrens has the red- brown zone about 1-2 mm wide and the pale zone 3,5-6 mm wide. The latter fits your photo.

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