Australian Native Plants

  Templetonia retusa (Cockies Tongue)


Templetonia retusa photo
Templetonia retusa(cultivated, labelled) Maranoa Gardens, Balwyn, Victoria, Australia

Photograph by Melburnian. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)



Growth Characteristics information is sourced from: State Flora Catalog, Government of South Australia Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license.



COCKIES TONGUE FACTS

distribution map showing range of Templetonia retusa in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Cockies Tongue

Other Names
Cocky's tongues

Description
Cockies Tongue is a shrub that grows to about two metres tall (sometimes as much as four metres). The blue green leaves are elliptical and grow to about 4cm long and 2.5cm wide. It produces bright orange red pea flowers in late autumn, winter and spring, although flowering period varies according to geographic area. Some plants have yellowish flowers. The fruit is a flat pod that grows to about 5 cm long and 1cm wide.

Habitat
Cockies Tongue is found on sandy, gravelly and limestone soils in woodland, heathland and road sides

Distribution
Templetonia retusa is found in southern South Australia, and round the southern and west coast of Western Australia to about Shark Bay

Growth Characteristics
Height (m): 1 - 3
Spread (m): 1.5 - 3
Soil Texture: sand, loam, clay, limestone
Soil pH: acid soils, neutral soils, alkaliine soils
Frost Sensitivity: moderately sensitive
Minimum Rainfall (mm): 300
Flower Colour: red
Flower Season: winter, spring

(source: SA State Flora Catalog)

Wildlife Interest
attracts nectar eating birds, also butterflies

Classification
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Fabales
Family:Fabaceae
Genus:Templetonia
Species:retusa
Common Name:Cockies Tongue