Hakea aenigma

Hakea aenigma, commonly known as the enigma hakea,[2] is a shrub in the family Proteaceae native to South Australia. Only one of two Hakea species totally reliant on suckering to reproduce therefore have "reached evolutionary dead-ends".[3]

Enigma hakea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Hakea
Species:
H. aenigma
Binomial name
Hakea aenigma
W.R.Barker & Haegi.[1]
Occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium

Description

Hakea aenigma is a rounded bushy shrub 1.5 to 2.5 metres (4.9 to 8.2 ft) high. Smaller branches are densely covered with flattened fine hairs, thinning nearer flowering time. The glabrescent leaves are flat and linear 5 to 35 centimetres (2 to 14 in) long and 3 to 10 millimetres (0.1 to 0.4 in) wide with prominent longitudinal veins 1-7 above and 4-9 on the underside. Each inflorescence has 16-33 flowers growing on an individual stalk. Pedicels and perianth are cream-white and smooth. The style 4.5–7.2 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. Flowers are sterile so no fruit is produced and plants can only reproduce vegetatively by suckering roots. Hakea pulvinifera is the only other species reliant on this method for reproduction. Hakea aenigma has cream-white blooms throughout spring from September to November.[4]

Taxonomy

Hakea aenigma was first formally described by the botanists Laurence Arnold Haegi and William Robert Barker in 1985 and the description was published in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.[5][6] The specific epithet is taken from the Latin word aenigma meaning "riddle", "something obscure" or "inexplicable"[7]:302 referring to the puzzlement of finding no fruit for the plant and the uncertainty of its origins.[4]

Distribution

This species is endemic to a small area on the western end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia confined to the more elevated parts of the lateritic and is part of the dense mallee-heath that grows in clay-loam to sandy soils.[4]

References
  1. Barker, William R.; Haegi, Laurence. "Hakea aenigma". Vascular Plants:APC. Australian Government. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. "Hakea aenigma W.R.Barker & Haegi - Enigma Hakea". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. Wilson (ed), Annette; Barker, Robyn M.; Haegi, Laurence A.; Barker, William R. (1999). Flora of Australia:Volume 3 Hakea to Dryandra. Australian Department of Environment & Heritage. ISBN 0-643-06454-0.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "Factsheet - Hakea aenigma". Government of South Australia. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  5. "Hakea aenigma W.R.Barker & Haegi". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. Barker, W.R.; Haegi, L. (1985). "Taxonomy of the South Australian species allied to Hakea ulicina R.Br. (Proteaceae). Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 7(3): 261, fig. 7" (PDF).
  7. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
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