Isopogon formosus

It has an erect or bushy form and is usually between 1.5 and 2 metres high. The pink flowers appear from mid winter to early summer. Rounded "drumsticks" containing the seeds appear later, formed from the old flower parts.The plants leaves are divided, narrow, terete and about 5 cm long.[1]

Isopogon formosus was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Transactions of the Linnean Society.[2] The specific epithet (formosus) is a Latin word meaning “beautifully-formed” or "handsome".[3]

In the same publication, Brown described the genus Isopogon. In 1891, German botanist Otto Kuntze published Revisio generum plantarum, his response to what he perceived as a lack of method in existing nomenclatural practice.[4] Because Isopogon was based on Isopogon anemonifolius,[5] and that species had already been placed by Richard Salisbury in the segregate genus Atylus in 1807,[6] Kuntze revived the latter genus on the grounds of priority, and made the new combination Atylus formosus for this species.[7] However, Kuntze's revisionary program was not accepted by the majority of botanists.[4] Ultimately, the genus Isopogon was nomenclaturally conserved over Atylus by the International Botanical Congress of 1905.[8]

There are two subspecies of Isopogon formosus:[9]

• Isopogon formosus subsp. dasylepis (Meisn.) Foreman;[10]
• Isopogon formosus R.Br. subsp. formosus[11]

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.[12]

Isopogon formosus requires excellent drainage and full sun. It will not tolerate long periods of dryness or heavy frost.[1][13]

• Australian National Botanic Gardens: Isopogon formosus
• "Isopogon formosus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.