text: persoonia linearis persoonia linearis , commonly known as the narrow - leaved geebung , is a shrub native to new south wales and victoria in eastern australia . it reaches 3 m ( 9 . 8 ft ) , or occasionally 5 m ( 16 ft ) , in height and has thick , dark grey papery bark . the leaves are , as the species name suggests , more or less linear in shape , and are up to 9 cm ( 3 . 5 in ) long , and 0 . 1 to 0 . 7 cm ( 0 . 039 to 0 . 276 in ) wide . the small yellow flowers appear in summer and autumn ( december to may ) , followed by small green fleshy fruit known as drupes . within the genus persoonia , it is a member of the lanceolata group of 58 closely related species . p. linearis interbreeds with several other species where they grow together . found in dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone - based nutrient - deficient soils , p. linearis is adapted to a fire - prone environment ; the plants resprout epicormic buds from beneath their thick bark after bushfires . the fruit are consumed by vertebrates such as kangaroo , possums and currawongs . as with other members of the genus , p. linearis is rare in cultivation as it is very hard to propagate , either by seed or cuttings . it adapts readily to cultivation , preferring acidic soils with good drainage and at least a partly sunny aspect . taxonomy english botanist and artist henry charles andrews described persoonia linearis in 1799 , in the second volume of his botanists repository , comprising colour 'd engravings of new and rare plants . he had been given a plant in flower by j. robertson of stockwell , who had grown it from seed in 1794 . the species name is the latin linearis " linear " , referring to the shape of the leaves . meanwhile , german botanist karl friedrich von gaertner had coined the name angustifolium in 1807 from a specimen in the collection of joseph banks to describe what turned out to be the same species . the genus name derived from the greek " five " and dactyl " fingers " , and refers to the five - lobed cotyledons . the horticulturist joseph knight described this species as the narrow - leaved ( persoonia angustifolia ) in his controversial 1809 work on the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of proteeae , but the binomial name is illegitimate as it postdated andrews ' description and name . carl meissner described a population from the tambo river in victoria as a separate variety , persoonia linearis var. in 1856 , but no varieties or subspecies are recognised . german botanist otto kuntze proposed the binomial name linkia linearis in 1891 , from cavanilles ' original description of the genus linkia but the name was eventually rejected in favour of persoonia . in 1919 , french botanist michel gandoger described three species all since reallocated to p. linearis ; p. from material collected at mount wilson sent to him by the herbarium at the royal botanic gardens in sydney , and p. walteri and p. from melbourne - based plant collector charles walter , whose records have been questioned . the short - leaved material of p. was noted to have been collected in queensland but this is now thought to have been incorrectly recorded . gandoger described 212 taxa of australian plants , almost all of which turned out to be species already described . in 1870 , george bentham published the first infrageneric arrangement of persoonia in volume 5 of his landmark flora australiensis . he divided the genus into three sections , placing p. linearis in p. sect . amblyanthera , and recognising angustifolium as the same species , after examining the specimen in the herbarium . he described a variety sericea from the shoalhaven river region and also noted the discrepancy in robert brown 's description of the species . brown had noted the bark to be smooth , in contrast to ferdinand von mueller and others who recorded the bark as layered . the genus was reviewed by peter weston for the flora of australia treatment in 1995 , and p. linearis was placed in the lanceolata group , a group of 54 closely related species with similar flowers but very different foliage . these species will often interbreed with each other where two members of the group occur , and hybrids with p. , p. , p. , p. lanceolata , p. media , five subspecies of p. mollis , p. myrtilloides subsp. cunninghamii , p. , p. pinifolia and p. sericea have been recorded . robert brown initially described the hybrid with p. levis as a species " persoonia lucida " , which is now known as persoonia × lucida , and has been recorded from the southeast forests of the new south wales south coast . bentham wrote in 1870 that the name geebung , derived from the dharug language word geebung or , which had been used by the indigenous people for the fruits of this species . it goes by the common names of narrow - leaved geebung or narrow - leaf geebung . naam - is an aboriginal name from the illawarra region . description persoonia linearis grows as a tall shrub to small tree , occasionally reaching 5 m ( 16 ft ) in height but more commonly around 2 – 3 m ( 6 . 6 – 9 . 8 ft ) tall . the flaky soft bark is dark grey on the surface , while deeper layers are reddish . within the bark are epicormic buds , which sprout new growth after bushfire . the new growth is hairy . the leaves are more or less linear in shape , measuring 2 to 9 cm ( 0 . 79 to 3 . 54 in ) in length and 0 . 1 to 0 . 7 cm ( 0 . 039 to 0 . 276 in ) wide , with slightly down - rolled margins . the yellow flowers appear in summer and autumn ( december to may ) , peaking over january and february . they are arranged in leafy racemes , and each stem may bear up to 50 flowers . p. linearis is described as auxotelic , which means each stalk bears an individual flower that is subtended by a leaf at its junction with the stem . known as pedicels , these are covered in fine hair and measure 2 – 8 mm in length . each individual flower consists of a cylindrical perianth , consisting of tepals fused for most of their length , within which are both male and female parts . the tepals are 0 . 9 – 1 . 4 cm ( 0 . 35 – 0 . 55 in ) long and covered in fine hair on the outside . the central style is surrounded by the anther , which splits into four segments ; these curl back and resemble a cross when viewed from above . they provide a landing area for insects visiting the stigma , which is located at the tip of the style . the flowers are followed by the development of smooth fleshy drupes , which are green and more or less round , measuring 1 . 3 cm ( 0 . 5 in ) in diameter . mature drupes may have purple blotches . each bears one or two seeds within a woody " stone " and is shed once ripe , generally from september to november . distribution and habitat one of the most common , persoonia linearis is found from the macleay river catchment on the new south wales mid north coast to the tambo river in eastern victoria . it is found from sea level to altitudes of 1 , 000 m ( 3 , 300 ft ) with an average yearly rainfall of 700 to 1 , 400 mm ( 28 to 55 in ) . it is a component of dry sclerophyll forest on both sandstone and clay soils . it grows in sunny to lightly shaded areas in open forest or woodland with a shrubby understory . in the sydney basin , it is associated with such trees as sydney peppermint ( eucalyptus piperita ) , silvertop ash ( e. sieberi ) , blue - leaved stringybark ( e. ) , blackbutt ( e. pilularis ) , grey ironbark ( e. paniculata ) , snappy gum ( e. rossii ) , sydney blue gum ( e. saligna ) , narrow - leaved stringybark ( e. sparsifolia ) and smooth - barked apple ( angophora costata ) and shrubs such as grevillea , g. phylicoides , hakea ( hakea ) , long leaf smoke bush ( conospermum longifolium ) and stiff geebung ( persoonia rigida ) . in the vicinity of nowra and jervis bay , it is an understory component of the widespread lowlands forest community , alongside such plants as gorse bitter pea ( ) , bearded heath ( leucopogon ) and native daphne ( pittosporum ) with spotted gum ( corymbia maculata ) , white stringybark ( eucalyptus ) and woollybutt ( e. longifolia ) as the dominant trees . the tall dry sclerophyll forest is on hilly terrain with good drainage . the underlying soil is a yellow loam originating from mudstone , siltstone and sandstone . ecology persoonia linearis is one of several species of persoonia that regenerate by resprouting from trunks or stems greater than 2 cm ( 0 . 79 in ) thick after bushfire , an adaptation to the fire - prone habitat where it grows . however , only larger trunks of 12 – 16 cm ( 4 . 7 – 6 . 3 in ) diameter might survive to reshoot after very hot fires . the thick papery bark shields and insulates the underlying epicormic buds from the flames . the plant can reshoot from the base , but generally only if the stem or trunk is killed . colletid bees of the genus leioproctus , subgenus cladocerapis exclusively forage on and pollinate flowers of many species of persoonia . bees of subgenus filiglossa in the same genus , which also specialise in feeding on persoonia flowers , do not appear to be effective pollinators . weighing 1900 mg ( 0 . 07 oz ) , the fruit are adapted to be eaten by vertebrates , such as kangaroos , possums and currawongs and other large birds . seeds have been recorded in the faeces of the brush - tailed rock - wallaby ( penicillata ) . cultivation persoonia linearis is useful as a hedging plant and responds well to pruning . its foliage has been used in floral arrangements , and its colourful bark is a horticultural feature . it is a fairly easy plant to grow in gardens , but is rarely seen due to difficulties in propagation . germination from seed is low , and can take many months . once established it can tolerate extended dry periods and is hardy to frosts . optimum growing conditions are part shade and a well - drained acid soil , though p. linearis grows readily in full sun . in general are sensitive to excessive phosphorus , and grow without fertiliser or with low - phosphorus slow - release formulations . they can also become deficient in iron and manganese . first cultivated in england in 1794 from seed , it was also reportedly propagated from cuttings ; andrews described it as a " handsome greenhouse plant , continuing to flower through the autumnal months and producing good seeds . " joseph knight reported that cuttings would be successful as long as material was " judiciously chosen " , and that plants had set seed on occasion . a compound with antimicrobial activity was isolated from the ripening drupes of a hybrid of persoonia linearis and p. pinifolia growing in the australian national botanic gardens in 1994 , and identified as 4 - hydroxyphenyl 6 - [ ( 3r ) - dihydroxy - 2 - ] -β - d - .