''Isopogon fletcheri'', commonly known as Fletcher's drumsticks, is a species of flowering plant in the family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...

and is endemic to a restricted area in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It is a bushy shrub with narrow egg-shaped to narrow lance-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and top-shaped to egg-shaped heads of yellowish or creamy green flowers.

Description

''Isopogon fletcheri'' is an erect, bushy shrub that typically grows to a height of and has glabrous reddish brown branchlets. Its leaves are narrow egg-shaped to narrow lance-shaped or linear with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide and more or less sessile. The flowers are arranged in top-shaped to egg-shaped, sessile heads long in diameter with overlapping egg-shaped

involucral bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, ...

at the base. The flowers are about long, yellowish to creamy green and glabrous. Flowering occurs from September to November and the fruit is a hairy oval nut long, fused with others in a more or less spherical cone up to in diameter. It is the only species on the east coast to have an entire leaf margin. Other species in this genus on the east coast have divided or textured leaves.

Taxonomy and naming

''Isopogon fletcheri'' was first formally described in 1894 by

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

in '' Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales Series'' from specimens collected by

Joseph James Fletcher Joseph James Fletcher (7 January 1850 – 15 May 1926) was an Australian biologist, winner of the 1921 Clarke Medal. Fletcher was born at Auckland, New Zealand the son of the Rev Joseph Horner Fletcher, a Methodist clergyman, and his wife Kate ...

from

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, overlooking the

Grose Valley The Grose Valley is a rugged valley in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It has been formed by the Grose River, the headwaters of which are in the Mount Victoria area. The valley is located between the Great Western Highway and ...

Distribution and habitat

Fletcher's drumsticks grows in forest within the spray zone of waterfalls near sandstone cliffs in a few places near Blackheath. All of its range is contained in the

Blue Mountains National Park The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney, and the park boundary is quite i ...

. It is commonly found in sandstone and gravel soil.

Conservation status

This isopogon is classified as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016''. The main threats to the species include its small population size, restricted distribution, disease caused by '' Phytophthora cinnamomi'', disturbance due to walkers and rock climbers, and weed invasion.

Use in horticulture

This species is hardy when grown in well-drained soil, using low-phosphorus fertilisers.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6086242 fletcheri Flora of New South Wales Taxa named by Ferdinand von Mueller Plants described in 1894