Plant in well-drained soil in shade or in full sun along the coast. Appreciates water during dry periods. Frost hardy to mid 20°s F. An unusual and interesting plant that is useful as a groundcover or in a large pot. Flowers are attractive to birds but the foliage might be poisonous to animals.

Gastrolobium praemorsum is endemic to south-west of Western Australia from Geographe Bay to Albany with an isolated population at Bullsbrook north of Perth. We received this plant and grew it as a cultivar of Brachysema praemorsum, the name it was first described as in 1844 but in 2002 it and others in the genus Brachysema were reassigned to the genus Gastrolobium. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'gastros', meaning "stomach" and 'lobus' meaning pod, in reference to the inflated seed pods of several species. The specific epithet 'praemorsa', meaning "bitten off" is in reference to the shape of the leaf tip. This plant was a 2002 release from the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum Koala Blooms Australian Plant Introduction Program and was made available from San Marcos Growers, Rosendale Nursery, Suncrest Nursery and Monterey Bay Nursery. We grew this interesting plant from 2002 until 2012 when we discontinued producing it. 

Information displayed on this page about Gastrolobium praemorsum 'Bronze Butterfly' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.