About Persoonia falcata R.Br.
Persoonia falcata R.Br. grows as a woody shrub or small tree, reaching 1 to 9 metres (3.3 to 29.5 feet) in height. It has thick, dark grey, layered and flaky bark. Its pale green-grey leaves are 8–35 cm (3.1–13.8 in) long and 0.4–3 cm (0.16–1.18 in) wide, shaped as oblanceolate, linear-oblanceolate, or falcate. Yellow flowers bloom between June and November. The plant produces yellow-green drupe fruits, which ripen from October to February. The fruits are edible and are eaten raw by local Aboriginal people.
This species is distributed across a wide area of northern Australia, generally found within 300 km (190 mi) of the coast. In northwestern Western Australia, it occurs in the Great Sandy Desert and the area around Broome, extending east through the Northern Territory into northern Queensland, with the Blackdown Tableland as its southeastern range limit. It grows along watercourses, in gorges, and on sandstone outcrops, most commonly on sandstone-based or alluvial soils. It can also grow on granite-based and lateritic soils, and rarely occurs on clay. It grows in Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, or mixed open woodland communities.
Attempts to cultivate Persoonia falcata at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney and Melbourne have failed; all plants planted into soil have died. Aboriginal people use a solution infused with this plant's wood and bark as an eye wash. They also drink an infusion made from its leaves to treat chest colds and diarrhoea, and apply the leaves directly to circumcision wounds.
