Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Hakea decurrens
Common name
Bushy Needlewood
Family
Proteaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, heath, and rocky sites. ACT. Widespread.
subsp. decurrens: Tablelands east and north from the ACT.
subsp. physocarpa: Coast and ranges south of Tathra. Rarely elsewhere.
subsp. platytaenia: Coastal south of Tathra.
Notes
Shrub or tree to 5 m high. Leaves with a sharp mucro about 1 mm long. New growth hairless to densely hairy, sometimes almost hairless. Leaves alternating up the stems, 1.5–8 cm long, 0.7–1.6 mm in diameter, at about a right angle to the stem, cylindrical, lower surface grooved to varying extents, surfaces hairless or rapidly becoming hairless; tips pointed outward, with a mucro 1-3.5 mm long. Flowers pale cream, white, or sometimes tinged pink, with 4 'petals' free from each other when the flowers are fully open, hairless. Gynoecium 8–12.2 mm long. Unit clusters of 1–6 flowers, often several clusters close together. Flowers May–September 'Nuts' more or less oval, 18–35 mm long, 10–36 mm wide, covered in discrete warts. Prominent beak with 2 horns. Seeds with one wing.
subsp. decurrens: Branchlets bright red to reddish brown, appressed hairy to hairy, quickly becoming hairless. 'Nuts' 14–19 mm wide. On the inner face the inner pale wood zone 3.5–6 mm wide, the outer zone of red-brown wood mostly 1–2.5 mm wide.
Regarded as indigenous/naturalied in the ACT. All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
subsp. physocarpa: Branchlets appressed hairy to hairy, usually quickly hairless, the hairs sometimes persisting to flowering. 'Nuts' 10–32.5 mm wide. On the inner face the pale wood zone 4.5–12 mm wide, the outer zone of red-brown wood 1-2.5 mm wide.
Note that the description in PlantNET (in the key to subspecies) of the width of the red-brown wood zone on the inner face of the nut (2.5–5.5 mm) has been transcribed incorrectly.
subsp. platytaenia: Branchlets hairy, the hairs persisting to well after flowering. 'Nut' 10–36 mm wide. Red-brown wood zone on the inner face of the 'nut' beside the seed cavity 3–5 mm wide at its widest point.
Rare Vic.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hakea~decurrens (accessed 20 April 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
