Persoonia pinifolia

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots >Basal Eudicots >  Proteales > Proteaceae > Persoonia pinifolia  

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:               Pine-leaved Geebung or as mambara in the Cadigal language  

Conservation status:   unknown

Etymology:   

• The generic name is in honour of Dutch mycologist and botanist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon

• The specific epithet (pinifolia) is derived from the Latin words pinus meaning "pine"  and folium meaning "leaf"

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are arranged in long, terminal racemes making them much more conspicuous than those of most other persoonias

• The flowers each have a moderately hairy pedicel 1–4 mm long and there is a small leaf at the base of each flower

• The flower is composed of four tepals 8–9 mm long, which are fused at the base but with the tips rolled back

• The central style is surrounded by four yellow anthers which are also joined at the base with the tips rolled back, so that it resembles a cross when viewed end-on

• Flowering occurs mainly from late winter to summer, sometimes in other months

• Flowering is followed by fruit which are fleshy green drupes giving the appearance of a bunch of grapes.

Fruit:                         

Leaves:         

• The leaves are soft and thread-like, 30–70 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide, moderately hairy when young, but become glabrous as they age

• The ends of the leaves are often curved

Stem & branches: 

•  Its young branches are moderately hairy

Roots:         

Habit:        

• It is an upright, woody shrub with soft, pine-like foliage and long, terminal racemes of small yellow flowers in late winter to summer

• Persoonia pinifolia grows as an upright woody shrub up to 3 m high and wide

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• It is endemic to the Sydney region of NSW

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy 

  • Persoonia pinifolia was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown from specimens collected "near Port Jackson"

  • The description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London

• Ecology

  • The fruits of P. pinifolia are taken by birds, including pied currawong, satin and regent bowerbirds, olive-backed oriole and Lewin's honeyeater but how this affects seed dispersal is not known

  • Unlike most Proteaceae, Persoonia pinifolia does not have proteoid roots

• Use in horticulture

  • One of the more widely cultivated geebungs in eastern Australia, though by no means common, P. pinifolia is a fairly reliable garden plant

  • The main reason it is not more widely available is the difficulties encountered in propagation by either seed or cuttings

  • Seed is very difficult to germinate; a combination of inhibitors and a thick impermeable endocarp contribute to this notorious reputation

  • Under natural conditions fire appears to enhance germination, though the use of artificial smoke products seem to have no effect on improving the results

  • It can be assumed fire has a physical effect such as 'cracking' the endocarp or in association with water/rain/moisture improving permeability of the endocarp

  • It can also be assumed that smoke possibly does improve germination, but artificial conditions don't provide the means for smoke to permeate to the seed embryo

  • Cuttings have been tried with many combinations of root-inducing hormones along with honey, sugar and coconut milk

  • The common rooting rate is < 1%. Results like this make the plant an unviable proposition for the professional nurseryperson and the amateur

• Research propagation has been taking place by a nurseryman on the far south coast of NSW during the period 2012-2017

• He has consistently been achieving rooting rates of around 85% in trials using a minimum of one hundred cuttings

• The scant information released suggests time of year, cutting length, temperature, wounding and hormone grade are important factors to consistently good results

• Tissue culture has been shown to be successful with P. pinifolia and some other species of persoonia

Sources of information:

• (2023)