and were eaten by the local aboriginal people. The firm bark and lanceolate leaves of P. lanceolata distinguish it from P. levis, with which it can be confused; the latter species has flaky bark and asymmetrical leaves. Distribution and habitat Persoonia lanceolata is found along coastal and near-coastal areas of New South Wales east of the Great Dividing Range, from Trial Bay on the Mid North Coast to Sassafras Morton National Park in the south. Its habitat extends to dry sclerophyll forest and heathland on sandstone-based soils low in nutrients, particularly on the tops of ridges and slopes. Examples in more sheltered areas are often taller than those in more exposed areas. P. lanceolata is found from sea level to an altitude of , and the annual rainfall of the area it occurs in the Sydney Basin is . The species is considered adequately protected in the Sydney region and is found in Bouddi, Brisbane Water, Marramarra, Ku-ring-gai Chase, Lane Cove, Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay National Parks. In heathland habitats, P. lanceolata grows with such species as Banksia ericifolia, B. oblongifolia and Darwinia fascicularis. In more forested areas it is an understory shrub alongside Lambertia formosa, Leptospermum trinervium, Daviesia corymbosa, Banksia serrata and B. ericifolia under such trees as Eucalyptus sclerophylla, E. piperita, E. sieberi, E. sparsifolia, E. punctata and Corymbia gummifera. Ecology The swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) feeds on the fallen fruit of P. lanceolata and disperses the seed through its scat (dung). A field study in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park found that 88% of seeds in the scat were still viable although dormant. The red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) feeds on drupes and is a likely seed dispersal agent. Animals can convey seed for one or two kilometres from where they have fed. Rodents such as the bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) and black rat (Rattus rattus) eat the drupes but chew the seed so that only fragments leave their digestive system. Foxes have been reported to eat the fruit, and kangaroos and large birds such as currawongs are thought to as well. Colletid bees of the genus Leioproctus, subgenus Cladocerapis, forage exclusively on and pollinate flowers of many species of Persoonia. Bees of the subgenus Filiglossa in the same genus also feed only on Persoonia flowers but do not appear to be effective pollinators. Recorded species include the longtongue bees Leioproctus (Cladocerapis) carinatifrons, L. incanescens, and L. speculiferus,