Persoonia terminalis

Persoonia terminalis

Persoonia terminalis, also known as the Torrington geebung, is a rare shrub belonging to the family Proteaceae. It is native to northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in eastern Australia. The yellow flowers mainly appear in December and January, and are followed by purple-striped green drupes.

About Persoonia terminalis in brief

Summary Persoonia terminalisPersoonia terminalis, also known as the Torrington geebung, is a rare shrub belonging to the family Proteaceae. It is native to northern New South Wales and southern Queensland in eastern Australia. Reported as a subspecies of Persoonia nutans in 1981, it was described as a species by Lawrie Johnson and his colleague Peter Weston in 1991. Two subspecies are recognised; both are found on well-drained acidic soils in sclerophyll forests. The yellow flowers mainly appear in December and January, and are followed by purple-striped green drupes. The fruit of persoonias are edible, and dispersed by wild vertebrates. P. terminalis grows as a shrub reaching a height of 0. 7–1. 5 metres, with an upright or spreading habit. It has smooth bark, although new growth is covered in fine hair.

The small leaves are 2–2 millimetres wide and 3.–10 millres long, with a convex curved downwards. They are concolorous, which means they are mostly discolorous. The leaves are rougher than those of other Persoonias, and have a slightly discoloured surface. The flowers are mainly yellow, although occasional flowers have been seen as late as July. They appear in groups of one to five, where they appear at the ends of branchlets. The type specimen is now housed in the National Herbarium of New South NSW, which is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Sydney and Office of Environment and Heritage. The Herbariam houses over 1.2 million other specimens.