Hakea tephrosperma

Hakea tephrosperma is a large upright multi-stemmed shrub or small tree growing to 8 m (26 ft) high and forms a lignotuber. The smaller branches are rusty coloured with flat silky hairs or may be densely covered with short white, woolly, soft matted hairs. The needle-shaped leaves are smooth 3–8 cm (1–3 in) long, 1–1.8 mm (0.04–0.07 in) wide and ending in a small curved hook 0.8–2 mm (0.03–0.08 in) long. The inflorescence has a short red-brown stalk 1–3 mm (0.039–0.12 in) long, covered in fine soft hairs. The inflorescence consists of 6-22 flowers, each individual flower has a stalk 3.5–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long. The pedicel and perianth are white and red-brown with fine soft matted hairs. Racemes of cream flowers appear in the leaf axils between September and October. The egg-shaped fruit are mostly smooth 2–3 cm (0.8–1 in) long and 1.5–2 cm (0.59–0.79 in) wide, occasionally with small blister-like protuberances. The fruit ending with blunt conspicuous horns up to 2 mm (0.08 in) long. [3][4]

Hakea tephrosperma was first formally described in 1830 by botanist Robert Brown in Supplementum primum prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae.[5][6] The specific epithet (tephrosperma) is derived from the Ancient Greek words tephros meaning "ash-coloured"[7]^: 382 and sperma meaning "seed" [7]^: 694 referring to the colour of the seed.

Hooked needlewood is a widespread species occurring in drier areas of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Grows in open spinifex and blue-bush (Maireana species) shrubland as an individual tree or in dense thickets on coarse soils.[4] The hooked needlewood is an adaptable species for dry to temperate locations but rarely seen in cultivation.[3]