Persoonia juniperina

Persoonia juniperina, commonly known as prickly geebung, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a small erect to low-lying shrub with smooth bark, hairy new branches, linear leaves, yellow flowers borne singly or in groups of up to forty in leaf axils, and yellowish green to purplish fruit.

Description

A shrub. It grows 40-50 cm high. It can be 2 m high and spread 0.5-2 m wide. Young growth is light green and hairy. The leaves are 0.8-3 cm long by 0.15 cm wide. They are narrow and alternate. The leaves are bluish green and rigid. They curve in and have sharp tips. The flowers are yellow and like tubes. They are 0.8 cm long. They are yellow. The lobes curl. The flowers are clustered at the base of the leaves, especially at the ends of branches. They have a strong heavy scent. The fruit are berries. They are green or purplish. They are 1 cm long by 0.7 cm wide.

Edible Uses

The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. It has a sweet, fibrous pulp attached to one large seed, with a flavour somewhat like sweet cotton wool. Australian Aborigines have long relished it.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw or cooked.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It grows in black peppermint forests. They need acid soils. They can grow in moderately well drained soils and can tolerate soils wet in winter. It can grow in sun or light shade. Hobart Botanical Gardens. Tasmania Herbarium.

Where It Grows

Australia*, Britain, Europe, Tasmania*,

Cultivation

We have very little information on this species and do not know how hardy it will be in Britain. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Requires a warm position in full sun in a freely draining preferably sandy slightly acid soil, preferring a pH around 6.3 to 6.5. Soils should be low in nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates.

Propagation

Scarify the seed and sow in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in autumn. Keep the seed tray in a sunny position through the following summer; germination should occur the next autumn, with around 46% success expected. Prick seedlings out into individual pots within 1–2 days of emergence, as the roots are very brittle and plants are easily lost. Grow on in the greenhouse for at least the first two winters, then plant out into permanent positions in early summer. Provide protection from winter cold for at least the first winter outdoors.

Other Uses

None known.

Other Information

It is a significant food.

Notes

There are about 90 Persoonia species. They grow in Australia. Many have fruit which are edible.

Also Known As

Geebung, Jibbong

References (16)

• Clarke, P. A., 2013, The Aboriginal Ethnobotany of the Adelaide Region, South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. (2013), 137(1): 97-126
• Cronin, L., 1989, The Concise Australian Flora. Reed. p 42
• Curtis, W.M., 1993, The Student's Flora of Tasmania. Part 3 St David's Park Publishing, Tasmania, p 603
• Dashorst, G.R.M., and Jessop, J.P., 1998, Plants of the Adelaide Plains & Hills. Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium. p 48
• De Angelis, D., 2005, Aboriginal Plant Use of the Greater Melbourne Area. La Trobe University Environment Collective

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