Re: Info on Australian plant
"Richard F. Dufresne" wrote:
>
> To All:
>
> Can anyone send me information on an Australian plant called Leschenaultia
> formosa? The flowers are yellow and look a little like a Polygala, or like
> a bird in flight. I have a JPG image that I can send to aid identification.
>
> The foliage is needlelike, about 1.0 - 1.5 cm long on medium to light green
> fairly prostrate, branching stems. I got mine from Logee's Greenhouses,
> where I gather it is used as a hanging basket plant.
>
> I'd be interested in its culture and use. Is it an endangered species, and
> does it have any interesting lore or herbal uses?
>
> Richard
I came across this enquiry of yours while clearing out old mail and I
cannot recall it got any reply.
I have never grown this particular species, but remember seeing a
number of specimens on a visit to West Australia. It does not only come
in yellow, but also red and all sorts of shades in between.
Leschenaultias almost all come from West Australia where they grow (and
really flourish) in the most awful-looking poor sandy soils. I don't
think they are endangered, as they seem to grow wild in quantity just
along the waysides around the Perth suburbs. No herbal virtues as far as
I know.
Their liking for poor light soil makes them hard to keep in cultivation
and they probably do succeed best in containers where they can be given
perfect drainage in a lean very gritty soil and should only be watered
freely when actually in growth. They need mild winters and dry summers.
(zones 9-11)
Even when happy they are not long-lived, but are said to be easy from
half-ripened tip cuttings taken in summer, or alternatively seed can be
sown in spring..
I had several tries at growing the glorious blue one (L. biloba) but
finally had to admit defeat - my poorest soil was rich enough to give it
indigestion and it didn't like my cool wet winters either.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata,
New Zealand (astride the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
