Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Pomaderris betulina
Common name
Birch pomaderris
Family
Rhamnaceae
Where found
Dry forest, woodland, or shrubland, often near streams.
subsp. actensis ACT and Lake Burrinjuck. One record from west of Yass.
subsp. betulina ACT, tablelands, and ranges. One record from Eden.
Notes
Shrub to 4 m tall. Stems hairy with rusty to slightly brownish stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves alternating up the stems, 1-6 cm long, 4-20 mm wide, upper surface with impressed veins, hairless to hairy, lower surface densedly covered in sometimes rusty stellate hairs (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see), lateral veins commonly reaching the margins (rarely looping to the inside) and terminating in minute hair tufts, tips blunt, margins curved down, more or less toothed or appearing uneven. Flowers cream to yellow, about 2 mm long, with 0 petals, and 5 sepals, in tight head-like clusters. Flowers spring.
subsp. betulina: Secondary (side) veins of the leaves strongly impressed on the upper surface, leaf margins usually distinctly curved down. Sepals 1.5-2 mm long.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
Rare Vic.
subsp. actensis: Secondary (side) veins of the leaves hardly impressed on the upper surface, leaf margins not or hardly curved down. Sepals 2-3 mm mm long.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
PlantNET description of species and key to subspecies: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pomaderris~betulina (accessed 2 February, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application:
