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Common Name: Broad-Leaved Geebong

General Information

Persoonia levis is an evergreen shrub that can grow up to 5.00 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

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Range

Australia - New South Wales, Victoria.

Habitat

Grows in heath to dry sclerophyll forest, in coastal sand and on sandstone, from sea level to 1000 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	5.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Requires a warm position in full sun in a freely draining preferably sandy slightly acid soil, preferring a pH around 6.3 to 6.5[]. Soils should be low in nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates[].
Plants are not very hardy outdoors in Britain and usually require cool greenhouse treatment[]. Plants tolerate temperatures down to at least -7°c in Australian gardens, though this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer colder and wetter winters.
Persoonia levis hybridises sporadically with P. acerosa, P. lanceolata, P. linearis, P. mollis subsp. Ledifolia, P. myrtilloides subsp. Myrtilloides, P. oxycoccoides and P. stradbrokensis where it grows with them[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked. Succulent but astringent[]. The fruit has a sweet fibrous pulp that is fixed to one large seed, it tastes somewhat like sweet cotton wool and is relished by the Australian Aborigines[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - scarify the seed and sow it in a greenhouse as soon as it is ripe in the autumn. Keep the seed tray in a sunny position during the following summer and the seed should germinate in the autumn. About 46% germination can be expected. Carefully prick the young seedlings out into individual pots within 1 - 2 days of emerging, the root is very brittle and plants are easily killed[]. Grow the plants on in the greenhouse for at least their first 2 winters and plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer. Give some protection from winter cold for at least their first winter outdoors.