Hakea victoria Royal Hakea Endemic
Once a foreign botanist realises that Western Australia is a botanical hot-spot, s/he usually becomes aware that there are a few "must see" plants in this south west corner of Australia. One is the Wreath Flower (Lechenaultia macrantha) found up in the Mullewa region east of Geraldton, another is Sturt's Desert Pea (Swaisona formosa) which can be seen in huge patches in the desert scrub of the Pilbara which is even further north, but a third is the Royal Hakea (Hakea victoria) named after Queen Victoria by the botanist James Drummond in 1847.
This plant is fairly easily found once you are in the Fitzgerald National Park but it isn't found in any numbers very far away from this as its central habitat. The bright colours area actually the leaves of the plant although some texts refer to them as bracts. They start off a greenish colour then become yellow, then bright orange and finally a fiery red. And all this on a plant which can be up to 3 metres tall. The flowers themselves are white and relatively insignificant. So is it worth the long trip from Perth? Oh yes, it's utterly amazing.
The Fitzgerald River National Park is in the far south east Western Australian floral hot spot, so if you want to see all these specialties on the same trip, then you'll travel hundreds of kilometres accomplishing your botanical objective.
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| Hakea victoria Royal Hakea (typical) | Hakea victoria Royal Hakea (en masse) | Hakea victoria Royal Hakea (younger) |
Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia 6th October 2024
Added on11th December 2025