Australian Native Plants

  Hakea bucculenta (Red Pokers)


Hakea bucculenta photo
Hakea bucculenta, Red Pokers growing naturally in Kings Park

Photograph by Gnangarra ... commons.wikimedia.org. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)



Growth Characteristics information is sourced from: State Flora Catalog, Government of South Australia Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.



RED POKERS FACTS

distribution map showing range of Hakea bucculenta in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Red Pokers

Description
Hakea bucculenta from Western Australia is one of the most striking Hakeas. It is an upright shrub with narrow leaves and spikes of red or orange red flowers to 10cm long from June to October. It is commonly known as Red Pokers on account of the flowers. The leaves are narrow and linear growing to 10cm to 20cm long. The fruit are woody capsules about 2cm long and 1.5cm wide. Hakea bucculenta makes a beautiful feature plant for a native garden.

Habitat
sand plains

Distribution
Western Australia from Geraldton to Shark Bay

Growth Characteristics
Height (m): 2 - 4
Spread (m): 2 - 3
Soil Texture: sand, loam
Soil pH: acid soils, neutral soils, alkaliine soils
Frost Sensitivity: resistant
Minimum Rainfall (mm): 400
Flower Colour: red
Flower Season: winter

(source: SA State Flora Catalog)

Propagation
Propagation is from seed which germinates in thgree or four weeks. May be propagated from cuttings but strike rate is usually low.

Wildlife Interest
The flowers attract birds and bees. Parrots also eat the fruits.

Classification
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Proteales
Family:Proteaceae
Genus:Hakea
Species:bucculenta
Common Name:Red Pokers


Relatives in same Genus
  Hakea archaeoides
  Hakea bakeriana
  Hakea decurrens
  Hakea drupacea
  Hakea myrtoides
  Hakea oleifolia
  Hakea petiolaris
  Hakea plurinervia
  Hakea scoparia
  Hakea teretifolia