Persoonia pungens explained

Persoonia pungens is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect to spreading or low-lying shrub with densely hairy young branchlets, twisted elliptic to oblong, sharply-pointed leaves, and glabrous, bright yellow flowers borne in groups of up to five.

Description

Persoonia pungens is an erect to spreading or low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of with smooth, mottled bark and young branchlets that are densely covered with greyish hair when young. The leaves are elliptic to oblong, twisted through one complete turn, long and wide with a sharply-pointed tip. The flowers are arranged in groups of up to five along a rachis up to long, each flower on a pedicel long, with a leaf or a scale leaf at the base. The tepals are bright yellow and glabrous on the outside, long. Flowering occurs from September to December and the fruit is a oval drupe long and wide.[1] [2]

Taxonomy

Persoonia pungens was first formally described in 1912 by William Vincent Fitzgerald in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign.[3] [4]

Distribution and habitat

This geebung grows in heath from near Coorow to Kellerberrin in the Avon Wheatbelt and Geraldton Sandplains biogeographic regions in the south-west of Western Australia.

Conservation status

Persoonia pungens is classified as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Weston . Peter H. . Persoonia pungens . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 1 November 2020.
  2. Weston . Peter H. . The Western Australian species of subtribe Persooniinae (Proteaceae: Persooniodeae: Persoonieae). . Telopea . 1994 . 6 . 1 . 107–108 . 1 November 2020.
  3. Web site: Persoonia pungens. APNI. 1 November 2020.
  4. Fitzgerald . William Vincent . New West Australian Plants. . Journal of Botany, British and Foreign . 1912 . 50 . 23 . 14 December 2020.
  5. Web site: Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna. Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife. 1 November 2020.