Persoonia
Persoonia levis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Proteales
Family: Proteaceae
Subfamily: Persoonioideae
Tribe: Persoonieae
Genus: Persoonia
Sm.[1]
Type species
Persoonia lanceolata
Species

See text

Occurrence data downloaded from AVH
Synonyms[1]
Persoonia elliptica
Persoonia pinifolia fruit
Persoonia levis bark
Persoonia coriacea shrub on road verge, near Yellowdine WA

Persoonia, commonly known as geebungs[2] or snottygobbles,[3][4] is a genus of about one hundred species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus Persoonia are shrubs or small trees usually with smooth bark, simple leaves and usually yellow flowers arranged along a raceme, each flower with a leaf or scale leaf at the base. The fruit is a drupe.

Description

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]

Taxonomy and naming

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]

Distribution and habitat

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.

Ecology

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]

Species list

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

References

  1. 1 2 "Persoonia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  2. ↑ Robinson, Les (1991). Field guide to the Native Plants of Sydney. Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press. p. 100. ISBN 0864171927.
  3. 1 2 3 "Persoonia". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. ↑ Bernhardt, Peter (2002). The Rose's Kiss: A Natural History of Flowers. University of Chicago Press. p. 118. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  5. ↑ Weston, Peter H. "Genus Persoonia". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Jeanes, Jeff A. "Persoonia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Persoonia". APNI. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Smith, James Edward (1798). "The Characters of Twenty New Genera of Plants. 4". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 4: 215–216. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Persoonia Sm". APNI. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Australian National Botanic Gardens (2007). "Aboriginal Plant Use - NSW Southern Tablelands: Geebung". Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  11. ↑ Wright, Joseph (1905). The English Dialect Dictionary (Volume V). Amen Corner, London: Henry Frowde. p. 594.
  12. ↑ Crib, Alan B.; Crib, Joan W. (1980). Wild food in Australia. Sydney: Collins. p. 49. ISBN 0006344364.
  13. ↑ Holmes, G. D., Weston, P. H., Murphy, D. J., Connelly, C., & Cantrill, D. J. (2018). The genealogy of geebungs: phylogenetic analysis of Persoonia (Proteaceae) and related genera in subfamily Persoonioideae. Australian Systematic Botany, 31(2), 166-189.
  14. ↑ Bernhardt, Peter; Wilson, Peter H. (1996). "The pollination ecology of Persoonia (Proteaceae) in eastern Australia". Telopea. 6 (4): 775–804. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  15. ↑ Maynard, Glynn V. (1995). "Pollinators of Australian Proteaceae". In McCarthy, Patrick (ed.). Flora of Australia (PDF). Vol. 16. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 30–33. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  16. ↑ "Persoonia". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

Further reading

  • 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
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