Persoonia Pinifolia, the Pine-Leaved Geebung, in Dry Sclerophyll Eucalyptus Woodland on a Sandstone Ridge Needle-Like Leaves Really Does Resemble a Young Pine
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PPiinnee--lleeaavveedd GGeeeebbuunngg PPeerrssoooonniiaa ppiinniiffoolliiaa An old joke in the nursery industry was to despatch an apprentice to collect cuttings of ‘yellow flowering Pinus radiata’’. Pines, of course, don’t have flowers, instead produce pollen in small, male cones and ovules, which later become seeds, in the large woody structures we know as pine cones. Still, the Pine-leaved Geebung with its green, pine- Persoonia pinifolia, the Pine-leaved Geebung, in dry sclerophyll Eucalyptus woodland on a sandstone ridge needle-like leaves really does resemble a young pine. In fact, the bright green leaves are at odds with those of most of its close relations in the Proteaceae: Banksia, Waratah, Hakea, Woody Pear and Grevillea, all of which tend to have dull, olive-green to grey-green leaves. The flowers of Geebungs, too, are very different from those of its relatives. If you examine an individual flower, you will find it has four ‘petals’ of equal length, but unlike most Proteaceae, the stamens are not fused to the ‘petals’ (apart from a short section at the very base of the flower) and are clearly visible, and the style is straight, not curved. Geebung fruit is unusual too. We are accustomed to Proteaceae with hard, woody fruits, such as that of the Hakea, or Woody Pear, but Geebungs have succulent fruits, technically known as ‘drupes’. (Other plants that have drupes are olives, almonds, peaches and plums.) Geebung fruit is edible, but rather bitter and Flowers of Persoonia pinifolia with young, succulent fruits just astringent; you starting to develop at the base of the inflorescence. would need to be pretty hungry before you bothered to eat them. It is said that when the fruit turns purple, it is quite sweet and edible, but it is usually eaten by birds or small mammals well before it reaches this stage1. There are about 100 species of Persoonia, all endemic to Australia. Pine-leaved Geebung is restricted to woodlands and forests of the Sydney region, from Broken Bay to Royal National Park and westward to the lower Blue Mountains2. It is a lovely shrub but fiendishly difficult to propagate. Decades ago, a wholesale florist in Wanganui, New Zealand, successfully propagated Geebungs and each week exported cartons of foliage to the US flower market. Sadly, it seems, his propagation techniques have long been lost. 1Robinson, Les. 1991. Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney. Kangaroo Press Pty. Ltd., Kenthurst, NSW. 2P.H.Weston, 14.03.2013, Persoonia pinifolia, The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au Map: modified from Australian Native Plant Society: http://anpsa.org.au/p-pin.html Alison & Kevin Downing, Department of Biological Sciences, 18th March 2013 .