Hakea francisiana

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         Bottlebrush Hakea

• It is commonly called the emu tree, grass-leaf hakea or bottlebrush hakea

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

• The genus is named after Baron Christian Ludwig von Hake, an 18th-century German patron of botany

• The specific epithet honours George William Francis, who was the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden, from 1857 to 1865

Flowers:                  

• The flowers appear in large racemes that can be as large as 10 cm in length

• The flowers occur in the leaf axils during winter and spring

• The colour of the flowers is red or reddish purple but the type that was once known as H.coriacea is mostly cream flowered with a pink middle

Fruit:                         

• After flowering woody seed pods form that are around 20 mm in length which hold two winged seeds

• The pods will shed the seeds in particular conditions such as following a bushfire

Leaves:         

• The evergreen linear leaves are up to a length of 15 cm and a width of around 3 mm

• It blooms from July to October and produces pink-red flowers

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• The non-lignotuberous shrub or tree with an open habit typically grows to a height of 3 to 8 m and has a v-shaped canopy and rough bark

• It is very similar to Hakea bucculenta and Hakea multilineata

Habitat:   

• It is usually part of mallee woodland and shrubland communities

Distribution:                  

• It is endemic to an area in the Wheatbelt, Mid West and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia from Geraldton in the west to Wiluna in the north to Lake Grace in the south and the Great Victoria Desert in the east 

• It extends into western parts of South Australia where it is found on sand-plains growing in sandy-clay, loam or clay soils often with gravel and quartz present

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1858 as part of the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae

  • The only synonyms are Hakea grammatophylla, Hakea coriacea, Hakea multilineata, Hakea multilineata var. graminea and Hakea multilineata var. grammatophylla

• Cultivation

  • It requires a full sun position and needs minimal watering. It is useful as an ornamental or as habitat for birds and bees

  • The plant is tolerant of drought, lime and moderate to light frost

  • It is sometimes grafted onto hardier rootstock

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakea_francisiana (2024)