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Bursaria spinosa
Pittosporaceae FAMILY

Bursaria spinosa

Bursaria spinosa

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub
Growth—

Bursaria spinosa is found mainly in the temperate to subtropical regions of eastern Australia, though it also extends into the tropics in Queensland. It grows in areas where the mean maximum temperature of the hottest month is within the range 17 - 33°c, whilst the mean minimum of the coldest month is -2 to 17°c[1]. Mean annual rainfall can range from 250 - 2,700mm[1]. It is said to be able to tolerate occasional temperatures falling as low as -7°c[2, 3, 4]. Plants can be grown against a warm sunny wall in cooler areas, succeeding where frosts are light and short lived[5]. Requires a well-drained moisture retentive soil in full sun[5]. Prefers a soil of light to medium texture[1]. Tolerates a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5[1]. Established plants are moderately drought tolerant[1]. A good bee plant[6], the flowers are sweetly fragrant[7, 8]. Plants can be trimmed back hard into the old wood, or even cut down to ground level and will resprout freely[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. It does not require pre-treatment. When large enough to handle, prick the plants out into individual pots. Grow on the young plants for at least the first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer. Consider giving the plants some protection from winter cold for at least their first winter outdoors. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame[7]. They require a little bottom heat if they are to root well[8]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Bursaria+spinosa>

Pollinators

Bees, Lepidoptera

References

  1. [1]Florabank Fact Sheets — http://www.florabank.org.au/lucid/key/Species%20Navigator/Media/Html/index.htm#D ↩︎An excellent on-line publication. At present their are 132 species in the list, giving lots of information on growing and using the plants, plus information on their climatic tolerances, distribution maps and photographs.
  2. [2]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  3. [3]Flora of Victoria. — Ewart. A. J. · University Press; Melbourne · 1930 ↩︎A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.
  4. [4]Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. — Thomas. G. S. · Murray · 1992 · ISBN 0-7195-5043-2 ↩︎Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]A Field Guide to Australian Trees. — Holliday. I. and Hill. R. · Frederick Muller Ltd. · 1974 · ISBN 0-85179-627-3 ↩︎A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.
  7. [7]Gardening on Walls — Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. · Collins · 1983 · ISBN 0-00-219220-0 ↩︎A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
  8. [8]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  9. [9]Australian Medicinal Plants. — Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. · New Holland Publishers · 2001 · ISBN 1876334703 ↩︎A very good and readable guide to the subject.
  10. [10]Flora of New South Wales — http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/floraonline.htm ↩︎An on-line resource giving a brief botanical description of all the native plants of New South Wales, their habitat and range, together with diagrams and photographs of the plants.