Persoonia chamaepeuce
Dwarf Geebung
a perennial woody evergreen member of the Persoonia genus in the family Proteaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Proteaceae
- Genus
- Persoonia
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Foliage
- evergreen
- Woodiness
- woody
- Height
- 0.3 m
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Fruit - raw or cooked]. The fruit has a sweet fibrous pulp that is fixed to one large seed, it tastes somewhat like sweet cotton wool and is relished by the Australian Aborigines[2][3][4].
- Plant part
- Fruit
Environment
- Range
- Australia - New South Wales, Victoria.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 9+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - scarify the seed and sow it in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Keep the seed tray in a sunny position during the following summer and the seed should germinate in the autumn. About 46% germination can be expected. Carefully prick the young seedlings out into individual pots within 1 - 2 days of emerging, the root is very brittle and plants are easily killed[5]. Grow the plants on in the greenhouse for at least their first 2 winters and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer. Give some protection from winter cold for at least their first winter outdoors.
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
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[5]. Soils should be low in nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates[5]. Plants are not very hardy outdoors in Britain and usually require cool greenhouse treatment[1]. They tolerate temperatures down to at least -7°c in Australian gardens, though this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer colder and wetter winters.
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Wild Food in Australia. Fontana 1976-00-00 ISBN 0-00-634436-4
Ewart. A. J. Flora of Victoria.
Low. T. Wild Food Plants of Australia. Angus and Robertson. 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-207-14383-8
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Carolin. R. & Tindale. M. Flora of the Sydney Region Reed. Australia. 1993-00-00 ISBN 0730104001