Persoonia mollis R.Br.

Species Nomenclature and Growth Form

Persoonia mollis R.Br. is an erect to prostrate shrub that typically reaches 0.2 to 5 metres in height.

Bark and Branchlet Characteristics

It has smooth bark, and its young branchlets are covered in greyish to rust-coloured hairs.

Leaf Morphology

Its leaves are linear, oblong to lance-shaped or spatula-shaped, measuring 15 to 120 millimetres long and 0.8 to 17 millimetres wide, with a much paler lower surface.

Inflorescence Structure

Flowers are arranged in groups of up to thirty along a rachis that grows up to 150 millimetres long. After flowering, the rachis develops into a leafy shoot.

Pedicel Features

Each flower sits on a pedicel about 1 to 3 millimetres long, and usually has a leaf at its base.

Tepal Characteristics

The tepals are yellow, 8 to 11.5 millimetres long, and hairy on the outside.

Flowering Period and Fruit Morphology

Flowering occurs mostly from late December to May, and the fruit is a green drupe around 8 millimetres long and 7 millimetres wide.

Common Name and General Distribution

This species, commonly called soft geebung, grows from heath to forest, usually on sandstone, ranging from the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury River south to the Clyde River.

Subspecies Overview

Nine subspecies occupy distinct ranges and habitats: Subspecies budawangensis grows in woodland to forest and is endemic to the Budawang Range; Subspecies caleyi grows in forest between Jervis Bay and Durras Lake on the South Coast;

Subspecies ledifolia and leptophylla

Subspecies ledifolia occurs between Kangaloon, the Shoalhaven River, Jamberoo and Wingello, growing from heath to forest on Hawkesbury Sandstone; Subspecies leptophylla is found between the Shoalhaven River, Budawang Range, Nerriga and Nowra, and on the Beecroft Peninsula, growing in heath and forest on Nowra and Conjola sandstones;

Subspecies livens and maxima

Subspecies livens is found between Penrose, Goulburn and Braidwood, growing in woodland on metasedimentary rock and conglomerate; Subspecies maxima grows in forest on Hawkesbury sandstone in the Cowan-Hornsby area;

Subspecies mollis and nectens

Subspecies mollis is found in forest on sandstone in the Blue Mountains; Subspecies nectens occurs between Oakdale, Hill Top and the Illawarra Escarpment, where it grows in forest;

Subspecies revoluta

Subspecies revoluta grows in forest on Hawkesbury sandstone between Nattai Gorge, Bullio, Berrima and Canyonleigh.