Australia treatment in 1995, and P. lanceolata gave its name to the lanceolata group, a group of 58 closely related species with similar flowers but very different foliage. These species often interbreed with each other where two members of the group occur, and hybrids of P. lanceolata with P. katerae, P. levis, P. linearis, P. stradbrokensis and P. virgata have been recorded. The glaucous-leaved P. glaucescens was formerly considered a subspecies of P. lanceolata, but no intermediate forms have been recorded from where the two taxa grow together near Hill Top in the Southern Highlands. P. lanceolata has seven chromosomes, as do most other members of the genus, and they are large compared to those of other proteaceae. Description Persoonia lanceolata is a shrub which ranges from high. The grey bark is smooth, and the new growth is hairy. Arranged alternately on the stems, the thick leathery leaves are oblanceolate or obovate in shape, and measure in length, and around wide. Hairy when young, they are smooth and featureless. Bright green in colour with a yellowish tint at times, the leaves are concolorous, that is both leaf surfaces are the same colour. The finely hairy yellow flowers appear mainly from January to April, but may be encountered at any time of year. They are arranged in leafy racemes, and each stem may bear 4 to 54 flowers. P. lanceolata is described as auxotelic, which means each stalk bears an individual flower that is subtended by a leaf at its junction with the stem. On stalks, the flowers may reach in dimensions, and are typical for the genus. Each individual flower consists of a cylindrical perianth which splits into four segments or tepals, and contains both male and female parts. Within this, the central style is surrounded by the anther, which splits into four segments; these curl back and resemble a cross when viewed from above. They provide a landing area for insects attending to the stigma, which is located at the tip of the style. The smooth fleshy drupes are green and more or less round, measuring by in diameter. Containing two seeds, they weigh around and become partly red as they ripen and fall to the ground the following spring (September to October). Once fallen to the ground, the drupes soften and become a dark red over two to three weeks before shrivelling and blackening. The drupes are edible