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''Isopogon sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as drumstick isopogon or Lesueur isopogon, is a species of plant in the family
''Isopogon sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as drumstick isopogon or Lesueur isopogon, is a species of 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
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the south-west
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. It is a shrub with linear to narrow egg-shaped leaves and spherical heads of hairy white to creamy yellow flowers.
Description
''Isopogon sphaerocaphalus'' is a shrub that typically grows to a height of and has hairy brownish young branchlets and hairy young leaves. The leaves are linear to egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, long and wide with a small point on the end. The flowers are arranged on the ends of branchlets in sessile, spherical heads in diameter with hairy, egg-shapedinvolucral 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 densely hairy, white to pale or creamy yellow and up to long. Flowering occurs from July to January and the fruit is a hairy nut, fused with others in a conical to oblong head in diameter.
Taxonomy
''Isopogon sphaerocephalus'' was first formally described by botanistJohn Lindley
John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
in ''A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony
"A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...
'' in 1839.
In 2019, Barbara Lynette Rye described two subspecies of ''I. sphaerocephalus'' in the journal '' Nuytsia'' but the names have not been assessed by the Australian Plant Census as at November 2020:
* ''Isopogon sphaerocephalus'' Lindl. subsp. ''sphaerocephalus'', commonly known as "drumstick isopogon";
* ''Isopogon sphaerocephalus'' subsp. ''lesueurensis'' Rye, commonly known as "Lesueur isopogon" has a longer pollen presenter, hairier branchlets and leaves and more crowded, broader leaves than the autonym.
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 ...
(''sphaerocephalus'') means "spherical-headed", and ''lesueurensis'' refers to Mount Lesueur, where this subspecies occurs.
Distribution and habitat
Subspecies ''sphaerocephalus'' grows in Jarrah forest between Gidgegannup, the Scott River area and theKent River
The Kent River is a river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course withou ...
in the Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...
and Warren 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 ''lesueurensis'' grows in shrubland on and near the sides and bases of hills in the Mount Lesueur area.
Conservation status
Both subspecies of ''I. sphaerocephalus'' are listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian GovernmentDepartment 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 ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6086249 sphaerocephalus Eudicots of Western Australia Taxa named by John Lindley Plants described in 1839