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Broad-leaved Drumsticks
~ Isopogon anemonifolius ~
PROTEACEAE
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These Broad-leaved Drumsticks feature beautifully patterned, intricately detailed inflorescences and can grow to a ripe ol’ age of 60. They are also known as serotinous resprouters, which means they need a bathing of flames at just the right times to open the hard woody fruit and germinate seeds. If fires are too infrequent, populations age and die out. If fires are too frequent and too hot, it threatens the entire species. First Nations cultures have been working with the science of fire and plants for millennia and have an intimate and spiritual knowledge of their local ecology. Resources like Fire Country by Victor Steffensen and Indigenous-led programs like Firesticks Alliance are vital in bridging the gap between cultural knowledge of land management, healing sick landscapes and reconnecting people with country.
WHERE TO LOOK
These Drumsticks congregate around Sydney on the surrounding coast and ranges. They’ll be found mainly in dry forests and sandy heathlands in the company of Eucalypts and hard-leaved shrubs such as Banksias and Waratahs.
Locations → NSW: Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Royal National Park, Blue Mountains National Park, Awabakal Nature Reserve and Barren Grounds Nature Reserve.
FEATURES
Drumsticks can take on variable forms depending on its habitat: closer to the coastal salt sprays and sea winds it can be stunted and scraggly; higher in the ranges it can grow to a handsome 2m shrub. The forked and pointed leaves are 4–11cm long and feature reddish tips, turning purplish in the cooler months. Yellow domed 25–40mm flower heads are inflorescences made up of a spiral of small flowers with a hard central cone. Its hairy seeds are contained within a grey spherical cone or ‘drumstick’ that’s around 10–16mm.
FLOWERING SEASON
Winter to summer → Some communities of Drumsticks can be seen for most of the year, with higher concentrations from July to January (particularly abundant through October).
PLANTING
Drumsticks like well-drained soil in either a sunny or part-shaded position, flowering about six to seven years after germination. Water well for better flowering and add in a natural fertiliser once a year.
