Persoonia

Persoonias are usually shrubs, sometimes small trees and usually have smooth bark. The adult leaves are simple, usually arranged alternately but sometimes in opposite pairs, or in whorls of three or four. If a petiole is present, it is short. The flowers are arranged singly or in racemes, usually of a few flowers, either in leaf axils or on the ends of the branches. Sometimes the raceme continues to grow into a leafy shoot. The tepals are free from each other except near their base, have their tips rolled back and are usually yellow. There is a single stigma on top of the ovary and surrounded by four stamens. The fruit is a drupe containing one or two seeds.[3][5][6]

The genus Persoonia was first formally described in 1798 by James Edward Smith and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.[7][8] The generic name is in honour of Dutch mycologist and botanist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon.[3] Smith did not nominate a type species but in 1988, Persoonia lanceolata was nominated as the lectotype.[9]

The term geebung is derived from the Dharug language word geebung, while the Wiradjuri term was jibbong.[10] The etymology of "snottygobble" is more obscure. The English Dialect Dictionary published in 1904 lists snotergob, snot-gob and snotty-gobble as "the fruit of the yew-tree, Taxus baccata" noting that "children devour quantities of the red part of these berries, which they call snotty-gobbles, and suffer no ill-effects".[11] The pulp around the hard stone in the drupes of Persoonia is edible although "the operation is a little like nibbling sweet cotton wool".[12]

Molecular hylogenetic studies indicate that Toronia, Garnieria and Acidonia all lie within the large genus Persoonia.[13]

Species of Persoonia are endemic to Australia, with one species, Persoonia toru found in New Zealand. In Australia, they are widespread in non-arid regions. One species, P. pertinax, is found only in the Great Victoria Desert, while a few other species venture into the arid zone, but most are concentrated in the subtropical to temperate parts of south eastern and south western Australia, including Tasmania.

Most species are plants of well-drained, acid, sandy or sandstone-based soils that are low in nutrients, although one, Persoonia graminea, grows in swampy habitats. Three species (P. acicularis, P. bowgada and P. hexagona) tolerate mildly calcareous soils, and several south eastern species sometimes grow on basalt-derived soils, and but these are unusual. The greatest diversity of species is found in areas with soils derived from sandstones and granites.

The flowers of Persoonia species are pollinated by native bees, especially from the genus Leioproctus, most commonly L. speculiferus, and the introduced Apis mellifera.[14][15]

The following is a list of species of Persoonia accepted by Plants of the World Online as of September 2023:[16]

• Weston, P. H. (1995). "Persoonioideae". In McCarthy, Patrick (ed.). Flora of Australia: Volume 16: Eleagnaceae, Proteaceae 1. CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 47–125. ISBN 0-643-05693-9.
• Weston, Peter H. (2003). "Proteaceae subfamily Persoonioideae". Australian Plants. 22 (175): 62–78. ISSN 0005-0008.

• Media related to Persoonia at Wikimedia Commons