About Persoonia chamaepitys A.Cunn.
Persoonia chamaepitys A.Cunn. is a prostrate shrub. It grows to around 20 centimetres (8 inches) high and spreads 1 to 2 metres (3.3 to 6.6 feet) across. Its new growth is covered in hairs. It bears tiny spine-like leaves that measure 0.7 to 1.9 centimetres long and 0.5 to 1 millimetre wide. Flowering takes place during spring and summer, from October to January. Small yellow flowers grow from or near the ends of branchlets. This species is restricted to central New South Wales, ranging from the Upper Goulburn Valley south through the Blue Mountains and Woronora Plateau into the Budawang Range, and it is common between Katoomba and Mount Victoria. It grows at altitudes between 360 and 1,100 metres (1,180 to 3,610 feet) on sandstone-based soils in heath or dry sclerophyll forest. Individuals observed in the Blue Mountains typically grow on slopes or mounds. In its ecology, long-tongue bees from the genera Chalicodoma and Hylaeus, as well as Eumenid wasps, forage among its flowers, but only the long-tongue bee species Leioproctus raymenti acts as a pollinator. The fruit of this plant is eaten and scattered by vertebrates including kangaroos, possums, currawongs, and other large birds. Persoonia chamaepitys is killed by bushfire and regenerates from dormant seed stored in the soil. This species is sometimes grown in cultivation, but it has proven difficult to propagate from either seed or cuttings. It works well as an attractive rockery plant, valued for its bright green foliage and yellow flowers.
