Proteaceae FAMILY

Persoonia mollis

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub

Growth—

We have very little information on this species and do not know how hardy it will be in Britain. 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 mollis is a complex species exhibiting considerable geographic variation, represented formally by 9 subspecies^[1]. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. 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^[2]. Soils should be low in nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates^[2].

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^[2]. 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. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Persoonia+mollis>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]Flora of Australia — http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/abif/flora/ ↩︎The full information from the Flora of Australia - on-line. An excellent resource.
[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]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.
[4]Wild Food Plants of Australia. — Low. T. · Angus and Robertson. · 1989 · ISBN 0-207-14383-8 ↩︎Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast