Exocarpos odoratus
Exocarpos odoratus
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Exocarpos odoratus is native to the Mediterranean climate of southwestern Australia, with its hot dry summers and cooler, moist to wet winters. The plant prefers a well-drained soil, but sometimes experiences seasonal inundation of the soil[1]. A major difficulty if trying to cultivate this species is that, although it photosynthesizes much of its own nutrients, it is also semi-parasitic on the roots of other plants, notably Eucalyptus species. Seeds germinate fairly easily, and cuttings will usually root successfully, but the seedlings and cuttings usually die unless they have root access to a host plant. Exocarpos species generally cause very little harm to the host plant.
Propagation
Propagation and establishment of species in this genus is difficult due to the semi-parasitic nature of the plant. Some success has being achieved in propagation from both seed and cuttings, but the plants generally do not survive once planted out[2]. Sowing the seed in situ near where potential host plants are growing, and protecting the seed with an upturned glass or plastic container would be worth a try. Alternatively, try sowing the seed in a pot where a small potential host is growing - the main disadvantage to this is that the two plants will be in very close proximity and the Exocarpos could be outcompeted. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Exocarpos+odoratus>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Florabase — https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/ ↩︎An excellent on-line database of Western Australian plants
- [2]Australian Native Plants Society — http://anpsa.org.au/index.html ↩︎A series of fact sheets on Australian plants. Good photographs, brief description and information on uses, habitat, range, cultivation etc.
- [3]Flora of Australia — http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/ ↩︎The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
- [4]Flora of Tasmania Online — Duretto MF (Ed.) · Tasmanian Herbarium, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery: Hobart · 2009 · http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/floratasmania ↩︎An excellent flora, in the process of being published (58 family treatments as of 2017). It can be accesed online and can also be downloaded as PDFs.