Persoonia cornifolia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Persoonia cornifolia |
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| Persoonia cornifolia flower | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Persoonia
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| Species: |
cornifolia
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| Occurrence data downloaded from AVH | |
| Synonyms | |
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Persoonia cornifolia is a special plant that belongs to the Proteaceae family. It is found only in eastern Australia, which means it is endemic there. This plant is a shrub with leaves that look like ellipses or eggs. It has yellow flowers that are covered in tiny hairs. You can find Persoonia cornifolia growing in northern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland.
What it Looks Like
Persoonia cornifolia is a shrub that can grow straight up or spread out. Its new branches and leaves are often hairy. The leaves are shaped like an ellipse or an egg. They are about 20 to 80 millimeters (that's like 1 to 3 inches) long and 10 to 45 millimeters (about half an inch to 1.7 inches) wide. The leaves are mostly flat, but their edges might curl down a little.
When the leaves are young, they are hairy. But as they get older, they become smooth. The flowers grow in small groups where the leaves meet the stem. Each flower has a tiny, hairy stem called a pedicel, which is about 1 to 2 millimeters long.
Each flower has four hairy parts called tepals. These tepals are about 10 to 13 millimeters long. They are joined together at the bottom, but their tips curl back. In the middle of the flower, there is a central part called a style. This style is surrounded by four yellow parts called anthers. The anthers are also joined at their base, and their tips curl back. This makes the flower look like a cross when you look at it from the end. The part of the flower that holds the seeds, called the ovary, is usually hairy.
This plant flowers from December to February. After the flowers, it grows green fruits called drupes.
How it Got its Name
The plant Persoonia cornifolia was first officially described in 1830. A botanist named Robert Brown wrote about it. He used notes from another botanist, Allan Cunningham, who had not yet published his work. Brown's description was put into a book called Supplementum primum Prodromi florae Novae Hollandiae.
The second part of the plant's name, cornifolia, comes from two Latin words. Cornu means "horn," and folium means "leaf." So, cornifolia means "horn-shaped leaf," even though the leaves are more egg-shaped!
Where it Grows
You can find Persoonia cornifolia in woodlands and forests. It grows in north-eastern New South Wales, starting from the Moonbi Range, and also in south-eastern Queensland.
Images for kids
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Fruit and foliage of Persoonia cornifolia
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Persoonia cornifolia growing near Cathedral Rock National Park
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Hairy ovary of Persoonia cornifolia
