Persoonia, commonly known asgeebungs[3] orsnottygobbles,[4][5] is a genus of about one hundred species of flowering plants in the familyProteaceae. Plants in the genusPersoonia are shrubs or small trees usually with smooth bark, simple leaves and usually yellow flowers arranged along araceme, each flower with a leaf or scale leaf at the base. The fruit is adrupe.
Persoonias are usually shrubs, sometimes small trees and usually have smooth bark. The adult leaves aresimple, usually arranged alternately but sometimes in opposite pairs, or inwhorls of three or four. If apetiole is present, it is short. The flowers are arranged singly or in racemes, usually of a few flowers, either in leafaxils or on the ends of the branches. Sometimes the raceme continues to grow into a leafy shoot. Thetepals are free from each other except near their base, have their tips rolled back and are usually yellow. There is a singlestigma on top of the ovary and surrounded by fourstamens. The fruit is a drupe containing one or two seeds.[4][6][7]
The term geebung is derived from theDharug language wordgeebung, while theWiradjuri term wasjibbong.[11] Theetymology of "snottygobble" is more obscure.The English Dialect Dictionary published in 1904 listssnotergob,snot-gob andsnotty-gobble as "the fruit of the yew-tree,Taxus baccata" noting that "children devour quantities of the red part of these berries, which they call snotty-gobbles, and suffer no ill-effects".[12] The pulp around the hard stone in the drupes ofPersoonia is edible although "the operation is a little like nibbling sweet cotton wool".[13]
Molecular hylogenetic studies indicate thatToronia,Garnieria andAcidonia all lie within the large genusPersoonia.[14]
Most species ofPersoonia areendemic to Australia, with one species,Persoonia toru found in New Zealand, andPersoonia spathulifolia endemic toNew Caledonia.[15] In Australia, they are widespread in non-arid regions. One species,P. pertinax, is found only in theGreat Victoria Desert, while a few other species venture into the arid zone, but most are concentrated in the subtropical to temperate parts of south eastern and south western Australia, including Tasmania.[16]
Most species are plants of well-drained, acid, sandy or sandstone-based soils that are low in nutrients, although one,Persoonia graminea, grows in swampy habitats. Three species (P. acicularis,P. bowgada andP. hexagona) tolerate mildly calcareous soils, and several south eastern species sometimes grow on basalt-derived soils, but these are unusual. The greatest diversity of species is found in areas with soils derived from sandstones and granites.[16]
^Wright, Joseph (1905).The English Dialect Dictionary (Volume V). Amen Corner, London: Henry Frowde. p. 594.
^Crib, Alan B.; Crib, Joan W. (1980).Wild food in Australia. Sydney: Collins. p. 49.ISBN0006344364.
^Holmes, G. D., Weston, P. H., Murphy, D. J., Connelly, C., & Cantrill, D. J. (2018). The genealogy of geebungs: phylogenetic analysis of Persoonia (Proteaceae) and related genera in subfamily Persoonioideae. Australian Systematic Botany, 31(2), 166-189.
^abWeston, Peter H."Persoonia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved29 July 2024.
^Maynard, Glynn V. (1995). "Pollinators of Australian Proteaceae". In McCarthy, Patrick (ed.).Flora of Australia(PDF). Vol. 16. Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 30–33. Retrieved24 September 2023.
Weston, P. H. (1995). "Persoonioideae". In McCarthy, Patrick (ed.).Flora of Australia: Volume 16: Eleagnaceae, Proteaceae 1. CSIRO Publishing / Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 47–125.ISBN0-643-05693-9.
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