Hakea mitchellii
{{short description|Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae from South Australia and Victoria}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Desert hakea
|image = Hakea mitchellii.jpg
|image_caption = Hakea mitchellii in the ANBG
|genus = Hakea
|species = mitchellii
|authority = Meisn.{{cite web |title=Hakea mitchellii |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/97139 |website=Australian Plant Census |access-date=3 February 2020}}
|synonyms= Hakea muelleriana J.M.Black
|range_map = Hakea mitchellii DistMap.jpg
|range_map_caption = Occurrence data from AVH
|}}
Hakea mitchellii, commonly known as desert hakea,[https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/7dbbee74-92d1-445b-aa30-861adea62273 VicFlora Flora of Victoria: Hakea mitchellii Miesn. Desert Hakea.] Retrieved 6 January 2019. is a shrub species in the family Proteaceae.
Description
Hakea mitchellii is a dense rounded medium to large shrub between {{convert|1-4|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high and wide and does not form a lignotuber. Leaves vary from terete, linear to ovate are {{convert|3.5-10|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1-10|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide. Profuse showy white or cream flowers appear in racemes in the leaf axils between October and January in the species' native range. Ellipsoidal to ovoid shaped fruit {{convert|1-2|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|0.5-1.5|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide tapering to a small beak.{{cite book |last1=Holliday |first1=Ivan |title=Hakeas:A Field and Garden Guide |year=2005 |publisher=Reed New Holland |isbn=1-877069-14-0}}{{cite web |title=Hakea mitchellii |url=http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/efsa/lucid/Hakea/Key/Australia%20Hakea%20species/media/Html/Hakeamitchellii.htm |website=Flora of South Australia |access-date=19 November 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite book |editor-last1=Wilson |editor-first1=Annette |editor-last2=Barker |editor-first2=Robyn M. |editor-last3=Haegi |editor-first3=Laurence A. |editor-last4=Barker |editor-first4=William R. |title="Flora of Australia" |date=1999 |url=https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Hakea%20mitchellii |publisher=ABRS-Department of Environment and Heritage |isbn=0-643-06454-0}}
Taxonomy and naming
The species was first formally described in 1856 by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner and the description was published in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.{{cite web |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?TAXON_NAME=Hakea+mitchellii|title= Hakea mitchellii|access-date=30 April 2012|work= Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database|publisher = Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra}}{{cite web |title=Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109211#page/404/mode/1up |website=Biodiversity Heritage Library |access-date=3 February 2020}} The type specimen was collected near Pyramid Hill during Thomas Livingston Mitchell's 1836 expedition.{{cite web|title=Proteaceae Hakea mitchellii Meisn. (possible holotype)| work=C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium|publisher=New York Botanical Garden|url=http://sweetgum.nybg.org/vh/specimen.php?irn=1196644|access-date=30 April 2012}} Hakea mitchellii was named after Mitchell to honour the collector of the species.
Distribution and habitat
Desert hakea grows in mallee-heath vegetation on calcareous sandy soil. Mainly a South Australian species occurring on Eyre, Yorke and Fleurieu Peninsulas, Kangaroo Island and south of the Murray River to Naracoorte, extending into western Victoria.