"Shrub to 3 m tall; indumentum brown or grey-brown, the hairs coiled or sometimes straightish, divergent." (Flora of Australia)

Hovea lorata appears on poor sandstone and granite ridges where Corymbia citriodora is dominant. It may also occur on adjacent, deeper soils, for example in Eucalyptus moluccana dominant systems.

Grows in sandy soils associated with sandstone or in stony or rocky soils (on serpentinite in N.S.W.) in forest and woodland. (Flora of Australia)

We note that in some areas, too frequent burning, both controlled and unregulated, may cause these beautiful plants and many others, to disappear from a forest understory. They may never mature and live to see a wet Winter conducive to seeding and so soil seed banks are degraded. Many exotic grasses are now widely naturalised in Australia that produce higher fuel loads in forests, than previously. Completely excluding cattle from such areas may now be counterproductive to conservation of native Australian flora. Regardless, it appears that careful, scientific approaches are now needed to allow native flora to persist alongside naturalising exotics.

Hovea species are very well suited to rehabilitation because they can be collected easily, store well for long periods and germinate readily. Access to sizeable stands is extremely limited. Timing of seed collections is critical also, the time window being very narrow. Winter rain required for their seed production is irregular in Queensland and so more successful collections can be made in NSW for this genus. Collections also place pressure on localised soil seed banks if too much seed is harvested from a given area. Given these facts, Hovea is an obvious genus for seed production through cultivation because the plants could be regenerated widely without pressuring native populations. Hovea species are often misidentified and so investment in correct identification is important before any cropping should take place.

Successful collection of Hovea seed requires careful monitoring and maturity testing. As maturity occurs, large portions of seed crops may be forcefully ejected from their capsules on hot, sunny days leaving the remaining seed crop in an uneconomic state. It is optimal to harvest seed sometime within several days prior to such an event.

When drying fruiting material cut from Hovea, do not spread material too thickly which will slow down dehiscence underneath. Place tarps in hot sun or clear film tunnelhouse and cover with a very light gauge of shadecloth. This will prevent ejected seed from being lost on to the surrounding ground.

Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. [Date Accessed: Sept 20, 2022] http://www.ausflora.org.au

https://profiles.ala.org.au/opus/foa/profile/Hovea%20lorata

https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hovea~lorata