Isopogon anemonifolius

Isopogon anemonifolius

Isopogon anemonifolius, commonly known as broad-leaved drumsticks, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native only to eastern New South Wales in Australia. The leaves are 5–11 cm long and forked after 2–5 cm into three segments, then often forked a second time. The yellow flowers appear during late spring or early summer and are displayed prominently.

About Isopogon anemonifolius in brief

Summary Isopogon anemonifoliusIsopogon anemonifolius, commonly known as broad-leaved drumsticks, is a shrub of the family Proteaceae that is native only to eastern New South Wales in Australia. It occurs naturally in woodland, open forest, and heathland on sandstone soils. The leaves are 5–11 cm long and forked after 2–5 cm into three segments, then often forked a second time. The yellow flowers appear during late spring or early summer and are displayed prominently. They are followed by round grey cones, which give the plant its common name drumsticks. The small hairy seeds are found in the old flower parts. A long-lived plant reaching an age of up to 60 years, I.  anemon ifolius resprouts from its woody base, known as a lignotuber, after bushfire. It was first cultivated in the United Kingdom in 1791.

It gained its current name in 1809 when it was redescribed as the redescaee of the genus Protea in the controversial work of Onaee Knight, published under the name A. Knight, Atytylus, and Tridactylides. The specific epithet referred to the similarity of its leaves to Apium. In 1796 English botanist Richard Salisbury published a formal description of the species, from a specimen collected in Port Jackson. He gave it the name Protea Anemonifolia, the specific epithets derived from anemone and folium, the meaning “leaf’s resemblance to anemones’”. In 1799, the Spanish analyst Antonio José Cavanilles described it as a ‘protea tridactsylides,’ a synonym for ‘leafed plant’. The common name ‘drumsticks’ is derived from their globular globular cones.