Isopogon sphaerocephalus
Isopogon sphaerocephalus, commonly known as drumstick isopogon or Lesueur isopogon, is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. 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-shaped involucral bracts 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 botanist John Lindley in "A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River Colony" 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: The specific epithet ("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 the Kent River in the Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. 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  Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.