Hibbertia scandens, or golden guinea flower, is a very vigorous climber that is native to the east coast of Australia from Sydney north up into Queensland. Stems can be up to four or five metres long. It belongs in the family Dilleniaceae, which contains many climbers/lianas, as well as trees, in tropical climates. The meaning of the binomial name, Hibbertia scandens means the following:

• Hibbertia-named after George Hibbert (1757-1857), an English merchant, amateur botanist and politician. He was interested in gardening and botanical discoveries.
• Scandens-Latin for ‘climbing’, something this pant does very well.

The leaves of this lovely climber are elliptic in shape. They can reach up to 80 mm long by 25 mm wide. They appear on red-brown stems, with new shoots being silky and hairy.

The flowers can be seen from a distance, due to their bright yellow colour. For me, yellow has to be really bright and in-your-face to be a good colour, and these flowers fit the bill, especially as they are pretty big flowers. They reach up to nine centimetres long and have at least thirty stamens. The flowers appear across most of the year, which is one thing I really do like about this plant.

The fruit is a follicle that splits to reveal red seeds, which are attractive to birds.

The golden guinea flower is happiest in full sunshine. It is a common plant within its native range, which is a good thing. The plant is salt resistant, thus often gets used in coastal areas. Plants of this species growing in coastal areas tend to have hairier leaves than those growing further inland. This is a likely adaption for protecting the leaves against the salt laden winds and water spray.

Native habitat for the guinea flower is fairly varied. It includes heathland, wet schlerophyll forest and coastal dune forests or shrub land. After fire, the plant can regenerate from the roots as well as the soil’s seed bank that has naturally developed over time.

In cultivation, I have seen the guinea flower used as a ground cover very successfully, in one instance you could say ‘too successfully’. It looks good either way.

For propagation, cuttings do strike very easily. Seeds do take a while to germinate, so have patience.

I do like this rather rampant climber, although I would only have it in my garden if it was large enough. At the moment, it isn’t unfortunately.

https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Hibbertia~scandens

https://resources.austplants.com.au/plant/hibbertia-scandens/

Fairley, A., & Moore, P., 3rd edition, 2010, Native Plants of the Sydney Region, Allan & Unwin, Sydney

Robinson, L., 3rd edition, 2003, Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, Simon & Schuster, Sydney