Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Hibbertia scandens

Flower and leaves. Photographer Don Wood, Jervis Bay National Park, NSW

Flowering stems. Photographer Jackie Miles

Open seed cases showing seeds, and leaves. Flowering stems. Photographer Jackie Miles

Common name

Climbing guinea flower, Twining guinea flower

Family

Dilleniaceae

Where found

Forest, shrubland, sand dunes, and near streams. Coastal. Ranges north from Gulaga National Park near Central Tilba. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT.

Notes

Woody climber or scrambler with stems to 4 m or more long. Seeds with a fleshy aril. Young stems densely to sparsely hairy with appressed simple hairs. Older stems more or less hairless, with scars from fallen leaf bases encircling the stem, often reddish. Leaves alternating up the stems, clustered on short side branches, 3–8 cm long, 15–30 mm wide, base tapering and usually stem-clasping, margins usually entire, sometimes with small teeth, upper surface usually almost hairless, lower surface silky, tips pointed to blunt. Flowers with 5 yellow petals each 10–30 mm long. Stamens more than 30, surrounding the carpels. Carpels 3–7, hairless. Flowers single at the bases of the leaves or on short shoots, on stalks 2–4 mm long. Flowers most of the year. Seeds with an orange-red aril.

Plants near the sea tend to be densely hairy, with leaves more or less spoon shaped, and larger flowers with 6 or 7 carpels. Plants at higher elevations tend to be more or less hairless, with leaves with tapered pointed tips, and smaller flowers with 3 or 4 carpels.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hibbertia~scandens  (accessed 19 January, 2021)