Alice Springs Flora •

Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Bougainvillea Apple Bush Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander

The Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), sometimes spelt as Fork-leaved Corkwood, has foliage that forks into several sharp, tough needles, which is a dull green in colour. Some of the young branches are reddish brown in colour.

Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT

The flowers occur in showy racemes of 5-15 cm long and are yellow-green. Usually flowering from June to November. The sweet nectar of the flowers is loved by ants.

Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT

The Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata) are found as scattered trees in floodplain woodlands around Alice Springs, although they can be found as the dominant canopy species in some areas.

Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT

A lignotuberous shrub or tree, growing from 2 to 7 metres high. They are described as having a light to dark coloured corky trunk (furrowed bark).

Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT
Fork-leaf Corkwood (Hakea divaricata), Alice Springs NT

Common name
Needlewood, Corkbark Tree, Fork Leaf Corkwood, Fork Leaved Corkwood.


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Phylum: Charophyta
  • Class: Equisetopsida
  • Subclass: Magnoliidae
  • Superorder: Proteanae
  • Order: Proteales
  • Family: Proteaceae
  • Genus: Hakea
  • Species: Hakea divaricata

Footnote & References

  1. Hakea divaricata L.A.S.Johnson, Corkwood, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2904293

Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Bougainvillea Apple Bush Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander

Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders