The Persoonioideae are a subfamily of closely related genera within the large and diverse family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

and incorporates such genera as ''

Persoonia ''Persoonia'', commonly known as geebungs or snottygobbles, is a genus of about one hundred species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Persoonia'' are shrubs or small trees usually with smooth bark, simple lea ...

'', '' Acidonia'', '' Garnieria'', '' Toronia'' and '' Placospermum''. Like most

, the great majority of species of Persoonioideae are plants of well-drained, acid, siliceous soils that are low in nutrients. Two species from south western Australia ('' Acidonia microcarpa'', '' Persoonia graminea'') grow in swampy habitats, three others ('' P. acicularis'', '' P. bowgada'' and '' P. hexagona'') tolerate mildly calcareous soils, and several south eastern species sometimes grow on basalt-derived soils, but these are exceptional. The greatest diversity of species is found in areas with soils derived from sandstones and granites. '' Placospermum coriaceum'' is the only species of Persoonioideae that usually completes its entire life cycle in rainforests. The others are basically plants of the shrubby strata of heathlands, and

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

forests and woodlands. However, some species, such as '' Persoonia arborea'', '' P. media'' and '' P. amaliae'' occasionally find themselves surrounded by rainforests that have replaced the sclerophyll communities in which the plants germinated.

References

* * * * *Weston, P. H. (2006). ''pers. comm.'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q3900550 Eudicot subfamilies Taxa named by Barbara G. Briggs Taxa named by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson Flora of the Australasian realm