''Persoonia bargoensis'', commonly known as the Bargo geebung, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to a restricted area of New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with linear to lance-shaped leaves, yellow, tube-shaped flowers and green, pear-shaped fruit.

Description

''Persoonia bargoensis'' is an erect, bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of with a light covering of brownish hairs on its young branches. The leaves are arranged alternately along the stems, linear to lance-shaped, long, wide and paler on the lower surface. The flowers are arranged in groups of up to twenty in leaf axils or on the ends of branchlets that continue to grow after flowering. Each tube-shaped flower is borne on a

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long and has yellow

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s long. Flowering occurs from December to January and the fruit is a pear-shaped drupe up to long.

Taxonomy

''Persoonia bargoensis'' was first formally described in 1991 by

Peter Weston Peter Weston (19 October 1943 – 5 January 2017) was a British science fiction fan from Birmingham, UK. Weston made many contributions in fan writing, fanzine editing, convention-running and in local science fiction clubs. His 1960s pseudonym ...

and

Lawrie Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic botany, botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Garden ...

of the National Herbarium of New South Wales from material collected near Douglas Park in 1989. They had previously considered it an intermediate form between ''

Persoonia nutans ''Persoonia nutans'', commonly known as the nodding geebung, is a plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to part of the Sydney region in New South Wales. It is an erect to spreading shrub with linear leaves and yellow flowers on down-tu ...

'', that is found to the north, and '' P. oxycoccoides'', found to the south. However further study found no evidence of intermediate forms between it and the other two species. Within the genus, ''P. bargoensis'' is classified in the ''Lanceolata'' group, a group of 58 closely related species with similar flowers but very different foliage. These species will often

interbreed In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

with each other where two members of the group occur.

Distribution and habitat

Bargo geebung is found in small scattered patches in an area bordered by Picton and Douglas Park to the north,

Yanderra Yanderra is a small village situated on the border of the Southern Highlands and Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia. Geography Yanderra is part of Wollondilly located between Bargo and Southern Highlands' Yerrinbool, and is locate ...

to the south, Cataract River to the east and

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for instance, Armboth Fell and Raven Crag both ...

to the west where it grows on Sydney sandstone and

Wianamatta shale The Wianamatta Group is a geological feature of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia that directly overlies the older (but still Triassic in age) Hawkesbury sandstone and generally comprise fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales an ...

soils, above sea level. It grows in dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest, under forest red gum ('' Eucalyptus tereticornis'') and broad-leaved red ironbark ('' E. fibrosa'') with a grassy

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...

of kangaroo grass (''

Themeda triandra } ''Themeda triandra'' is a species of perennial tussock-forming grass widespread in Africa, Australia, Asia and the Pacific. In Australia it is commonly known as kangaroo grass and in East Africa and South Africa it is known as red grass and re ...

''), or more open woodland with such trees as red bloodwood (''

Corymbia gummifera ''Corymbia gummifera'', commonly known as red bloodwood, is a species of tree, rarely a mallee, that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, tessellated bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups o ...

''), scribbly gum (''

Eucalyptus sclerophylla ''Eucalyptus sclerophylla'', known as the scribbly gum, is a tree native to eastern Australia. Very similar to the related Scribbly Gum (''E. haemastoma''), a better known tree. The best way of distinguishing the species is the smaller hemisph ...

''), grey gum ('' E. punctata''), narrow-leaved stringybark ('' E. sparsifolia'') and small-leaved apple (''

Angophora bakeri ''Angophora bakeri'', commonly known as the narrow-leaved apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to New South Wales. It has rough, fibrous bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of three or seven, w ...

'') with a shrubby understory of plants such as wreath bush-pea ('' Pultenaea tuberculata''). The increased light and lack of competing plants means the species adapts preferably to growing on road verges.

Conservation status

This geebung is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government ''

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

'' and as "endangered" under the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to the species include its small population size, habitat loss and fragmentation and inappropriate maintenance activities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7170708 bargoensis Flora of New South Wales Plants described in 1991 Taxa named by Peter H. Weston Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson