Esperance Hakeas

Very hardy with attractive flowers, interesting foliage and sculptured growth habits.

Hakeas are often the neglected genus from the Proteaceae family, yet there are over 150 species and between them, they do everything their closest relative Grevillea does and often more. For a start hakeas are endemic to Australia occurring nowhere else, grevilleas on the other hand are also found in Sulawesi, New Guinea and New Caledonia, although Australia has many more species.

Physically there are a couple of distinct differences between Hakea and Grevillea, most noticeably are the seed capsules, which with Hakea are thick and woody, plus (with most species) do not open to shed their seed until the plant dies or is burnt in a bushfire. Grevilleas on the other hand have much thinner seed capsules, which release their seed annually.

A common misconception is that all hakeas have sharp prickly foliage. This is certainly true with a number of species, but many have flat blunt leaves and even some with needle-like foliage, are quite soft to touch. So there is considerable variation.

Below is probably the best known and widely grown Hakea, ie Hakea laurina or the Pincushion Hakea. This species not only has beautiful and unusual flowers, but flat unarmed foliage that with some forms weeps to the ground. It is quite common around Esperance, from coastal areas to around 100 km inland.

Pincushion Hakea, Hakea laurina

Another difference between hakeas and grevilleas is the foliage. With flat foliage (like a conventional leaf) each side of the Hakea leaf blade looks the same; in other words there is no top or bottom to the leaf. Whereas with grevilleas, the top side is markedly different in appearance to the underneath (bottom) side.

The strongly honey scented Hakea corymbosa or Cauliflower Hakea, so called as the flowers form in tight cream/greenish clusters and it really does look like a cauliflower. It occupies a similar range to the Pincushion Hakea above, but is more common in low lying areas around swamps. It grows as a very compact bush to one and a half metres.

Cauliflower Hakea, Hakea corymbosa

Although not always the case, hakeas tend to grow in areas of periodic flooding or in seepage zones, whereas most grevilleas prefer better drainage. This adaptation to low lying areas does not necessarily mean they are more difficult to grow, as typically these habitats are ephemeral regarding the presence of moisture and often dry out completely during summer, meaning most hakeas are really tough, being able to withstand wet and dry conditions.

Around Esperance the Hakea varia or the Variable-leaved Hakea, is often found growing around freshwater swamps alongside the Cauliflower Hakea above. It too is strongly honey scented and structurally interesting, often growing into unusual sculptured shapes. It is called the Variable-leaved Hakea because the leaves can be smooth edged or highly toothed, with many variations between. The form near me tends to be very spreading and rarely exceeding a metre in height.

A naturally sculptured Hakea varia, around a metre in height x 2 metres diameter.

The same Hakea varia photographed at night.

Variable-leaved Hakea, Hakea varia

I regard myself as being very lucky to have a third Hakea growing with the above Cauliflower and Variable-leaved Hakeas. It too has honey scented flowers and highly variable foliage, however growth wise it is a more normal spreading shrub to around 2 metres in height. Its name is Hakea trifurcate or the Two-leaf Hakea. Note the broad leaves alongside the finely divided ones. These can vary tremendously, with some plants being mainly broad leaved, whilst others all finely divided. There seems to be little reason why this should be so, other than those plants with broad foliage tend to occupy the better watered areas. These hakeas are widespread in the WA Wheatbelt and prefer seepage zones, often around swamps.

Two-leaf Hakea, Hakea trifurcate

As with grevilleas, Hakea flowers vary in composition, forming long or short brushes, plus large and small flower clusters. Hakea flowers also come in a variety of colors, plus some have highly colorful foliage.

Hakea victoria or the Royal Hakea is not an Esperance species, but grows down the road a little in the East & West Mt Barren area, ie on the coast from Ravensthorpe and would probably have the most colourful foliage of any Hakea. It is quite a tall shrub with some growing to over 3 metres. It prefers sandy soils over granite or heavier loams.

Royal Hakea, Hakea victoria

To further emphasise the variability of this genus, some hakeas grow into large dense shrubs or small trees; others are small and spindly, with everything between. Still others grow into living sculptures, providing interest even when not in flower. The foliage (as shown above) is ridiculously variable, but so too are the seed capsules. These can be smaller than your fingernail, or almost as big and round as a cricket ball. Others growing into amusing shapes, like the Frog Hakea.

There is even more to hakeas; birds feed from them, find protection from predators and larger birds, or build their nests within their foliage, particularly if prickly, so these plants occupy a strong ecological niche not only in the bush, but also in your garden.

To end with, I present Hakea clavata or the Coastal Hakea (Not a good common name), which only grows on granite outcrops ranging from the coast to inland mallee regions, where very common. It is a bushy shrub to 2 metres in height and grows in shallow soil over the granite, where its roots will penetrate into any fissure. Due to the hot drying summer conditions it is often the only sizable plant on an outcrop, and does this by producing thick fleshy leaves (almost succulent) to conserve moisture. It has developed another necessary survival mode different to most hakeas whereby it releases its seed annually without the need of bushfire. This is important as most fires cannot traverse the often large open areas of bare rock, making the usual method of seed release (after fire) largely redundant.

Coastal Hakea, Hakea clavata

There is a Hakea for almost every garden situation including the most difficult, so if you ask at your local Garden Centre, you will probably be surprised by the variety of tough and interesting plants available.