''Isopogon formosus'', commonly known as rose coneflower,
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 the
south-west of
Western Australia. It is a shrub with divided leaves with cylindrical segments, and spherical to oval heads of pink or red flowers.
Description
''Isopogon formosus'' is an erect or spreading shrub that typically grows to a height of with pale to reddish brown young branchlets. The leaves are up to long on a
petiole up to long, and divided with grooved cylindrical segments that have a sharply-pointed tip. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets or in upper leaf axils, in
sessile, spherical to oval heads about in diameter with egg-shaped to lance-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 red or mauve-pink and more or less
glabrous, and the fruit is a hairy
nut fused with others in a spherical or oval head up to long in diameter.
Taxonomy
''Isopogon formosus'' was first formally described in 1810 by
Robert Brown and the description was published in
Transactions of the Linnean Society.
The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
(''formosus'') is a
Latin word meaning "beautifully-formed" or "handsome".
In 1995,
Donald Bruce Foreman described two subspecies of ''I. formosus'' in the ''
Flora of Australia'', and the names are accepted by the
Australian Plant Census:
* ''Isopogon formosus'' subsp. ''dasylepis'' (
Meisn.) Foreman
that has generally hairier stems, leaves and involucral bracts than the
autonym and flowers mainly from June to December;
* ''Isopogon formosus''
R.Br. subsp. ''formosus''
is more or less glabrous and mainly flowers from May to November.
Subspecies ''dasylepis'' was originally described in 1856 by
Carl Meissner as ''I. formosus'' var. ''dasylepis'' in
de Candolle's ''
Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis''.
In a 2017 paper in the journal
''Nuytsia'',
Rye
Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...
and
Hislop reduced ''
I. heterophyllus'' to a
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of ''I. formosus'' subsp. ''formosus'', but the change has not been accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at November 2020.
Distribution and habitat
Rose coneflower grows in a range of soils in swampy places, rocky outcrops and on sandplains mainly between
Bunbury and
Esperance in the
Esperance Plains and
Jarrah Forest biogeographic regions
A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions.
De ...
.
Subspecies ''dasylepis'' occurs between
Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
,
Noggerup and the
Scott River and subsp. ''formosus'' in near-coastal areas between
Walpole and
Hopetoun and from
Dalyup to
Cape Arid National Park
Cape Arid National Park is a List of national parks of Australia, national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance, Western Australia, Esperance and lies on the shore of the South coast of W ...
.
Conservation status
Subspecies ''formosus'' is classified as "not threatened"
but subsp. ''dasylepis'' is classified as "
Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia
Department of Parks and Wildlife
The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and en ...
meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.
Use in horticulture
''Isopogon formosus'' requires excellent drainage and full sun. It will not tolerate long periods of dryness or heavy frost.
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q6086244, from2=Q51054505, from3=Q100456889
formosus
Pope Formosus (896) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the K ...
Eudicots of Western Australia
Endemic flora of Western Australia
Plants described in 1810
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)