Australian Native Plants

  Pimelea physodes (Qualup Bell)


Pimelea physodes photo
Pimelea physodes (cultivated, unlabelled) Australian Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia

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




QUALUP BELL FACTS

distribution map showing range of Pimelea physodes in Australia

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


Common Name
Qualup Bell

Description
Qualup Bell is an upright small shrub that grows to about one metre in height. The oval leaves are about 10mm long and 6 mm wide. It produces clusters of hanging bell-shaped flowers in spring. The flowers are surrounded by bracts which vary in colour from red, yellow, green to purple. It makes a popular cut flower, and is cultivated commercially for this purpose. However, the plant is difficult to grow in the humid summer climate of the eastern states.

Habitat
grows on sandy soil on sandplains and mallee heath

Distribution
Qualup Bell is found on the south coast of Western Australia between Albany and Esperance

Growth Characteristics
Height: 0.5m - 1m
Spread: 0.3m - 0.5m

Propagation
seed, cuttings, grafting

Classification
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Malvales
Family:Thymelaeaceae
Genus:Pimelea
Species:physodes
Common Name:Qualup Bell


Relatives in same Genus
  Pimelea ciliata
  Pimelea ferruginea
  Pimelea flava ssp Flava
  Pimelea humilis
  Pimelea linifolia
  Pimelea spectabilis