Persoonia gunnii

Persoonia gunnii is an evergreen shrub in the Proteaceae family. It comes from Tasmania, where it grows in a temperate climate. Its wild habitat includes alpine and subalpine areas. There, it grows on ground with sand and stones. Kew lists its native range as Tasmania. The RHS confirms that it is not native to Britain or Ireland.

Plants For A Future gives a height of 11.5 feet (3.5 metres). The shrub keeps its leaves throughout the year. The supplied sources give no details about leaf shape or colour. They also give no account of its bark or stems. No mature width or growth rate is recorded. Its flowers have both male and female organs. The evidence does not give their colour or flowering season.

The fruit is edible, either fresh or after cooking. Its sweet, fibrous flesh clings to a single large seed. Plants For A Future records its use by Aboriginal Australians. That source gives its food value two out of five. It lists no known medicinal use or other practical use. It also reports no known hazards. This does not establish that every plant part is safe to eat. The supplied evidence gives no separate assessment of safety for pets.

The species profile lists sandy and loamy soils as suitable. It calls for good drainage and allows for poor soil. It lists mildly acid and neutral soil as suitable. The plant can grow in dry or moist ground. It cannot grow in shade. A sunny woodland edge is one suggested garden setting. Its evergreen leaves could provide year-round structure in that setting. Plants For A Future says its hardiness in Britain remains uncertain. Its more detailed growing notes come from the genus, not this species.

Plants For A Future describes raising it from scarified seed. Its notes call for sowing ripe seed under glass in autumn. Germination may wait until the next autumn. Young roots are brittle, so moving seedlings needs care. The source advises keeping young plants under glass for two winters. It then suggests planting out in early summer, with initial winter protection. No named pests or diseases appear in the supplied evidence. Plants For A Future does not flag it as weedy.