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Rutaceae FAMILY

Correa alba

Correa alba

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub
Growth—

Requires a freely draining lime-free peaty soil or a sandy soil rich in organic matter and a sunny position[1, 2]. Another report says that plants do best in a well-drained, rather poor soil with some limestone[3]. Plants are very resistant to salt spray[4]. This species is hardy to at least -7°c in Australian gardens[4], though this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer, colder and wetter winters. Plants can tolerate at least short-lived frosts down to about -5°c in Britain[2] and they can be grown on a sunny wall in the milder parts of the country[1, 5]. In S. Cornwall they succeed as free-growing shrubs[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse. Fresh seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 months at 20°c[6]. Stored seed can be difficult to germinate, leaching with water can help, or perhaps a short burst of fire will initiate germination[3]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a shaded frame[2]. Cuttings are generally quite easy to root[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Correa+alba>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 — Phillips. R. & Rix. M. · Pan Books, London. · 1998 · ISBN 0-330-37376-5 ↩︎Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside.
  4. [4]Australian Native Plants. — Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. · Collins. (Australia) · 1988 · ISBN 0-7322-0021-0 ↩︎A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.
  5. [5]The Milder Garden. — Taylor. J. · Dent · 1990 ↩︎A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.
  6. [6]Growing from Seed. Volume 4. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1990 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  9. [9]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  10. [10]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  11. [11]Wild Food in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · Fontana · 1976 · ISBN 0-00-634436-4 ↩︎A very good pocket guide.