Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Persoonia asperula

Flowering stems. Photographer Don Wood, Wadbilliga National Park

Leafy stems and fruit. Photographer Jackie Miles

Common name

Mountain geebung, Geebung

Family

Proteaceae

Where found

Forest, heath, and rocky areas. Ranges and tablelands south of the Kings Highway.

Notes

Shrub to about 2 m high to prostrate. Fruit fleshy. Bark smooth. Young branchlets moderately hairy with whitiesh or greyish hairs. Leaves alternating up the stems to almost opposite each other, 0.3–2.2 cm long, 1–6 mm wide, flat, with curved down margins, surfaces the same colour on each side to very different colours on each side, sparsely to moderately hairy, finely rough. Flowers with 4 yellow 'petals' each 9–11 mm long, more or less fused at the base, hairless to moderately hairy. Flowers erect to spreading, mostly subtended by small leaves or leaves, in 1-9 flowered clusters. Flowers mainly Summer. Fruit green with purple stripes to purple, to about 10 mm long.

Sometimes hybridises with Persoonia chamaepeuce  where they grow together.

Protected NSW.

Endangered Vic. Listed in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, Vic. Victorian plants may be a different species.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Persoonia~asperula  (accessed 30 January, 2021)