Isopogon anethifolius

)|alt=Photograph of a bush with thin green leaves in shade Isopogon anethifolius is a shrub usually between high with an upright habit (tall and thin with mostly vertical stems). It generally grows taller in more sheltered areas such as woodlands, and shorter in more exposed areas. The leaves are terete (round in cross section) and less than 1 mm ( in) in diameter. They branch once or twice in their length. The globular yellow flowerheads, known as inflorescences, appear at the ends of branches in spring and early summer (September to December), The individual flowers arise out of the central woody globe in a spiral pattern, The seed weighs around . On a microscopic level, the supporting ground tissue of I. anethifolius differs from some of its genus by its irregular misshapen sclereids (thick-walled cells that make up part of the ground tissue) and contorted cell body. ==Taxonomy==

Isopogon anethifolius was among the plants collected by English botanist Joseph Banks and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander on 5 May 1770 at Botany Bay during the first voyage of Captain James Cook. A drawing by Scottish artist Sydney Parkinson was the source for a subsequent painting by James Britten, published in 1905. Solander coined the (unpublished) binomial name Leucadendron serraria in ''Banks' Florilegium. English botanist Richard Salisbury described the species in 1796 as Protea anethifolia, from a specimen collected in Port Jackson (Sydney). The species name is derived from the Latin words "dill" and "leaf", from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the herb. The common name is variously written as narrowleaf-'', In 1799, the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles described Protea acufera, later identified as a synonym by Salisbury and Robert Brown. I. anethifolius gained its current name in 1809 when it was redescribed as the dill-leaved isopogon (Isopogon anethifolius) by English plantsman Joseph Knight in his controversial work On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae. Robert Brown had written of the genus Isopogon but Knight had hurried out his work before Brown's. Brown's description appeared in his paper On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae in the Transactions of the Linnean Society in 1810. French naturalist Michel Gandoger described four taxa in 1919 that he regarded as similar to (but distinct from) I. anethifolius. I. confertus was a plant from Rylstone on the Central Tablelands, which he distinguished by its crowded leaves that were long. I. eriophorus was a plant with more scattered leaves that were long. He described I. globosus from the Port Jackson district on the basis of round (rather than oval) infructescences (cones), and I. virgatulus from Western Australia. All four were subsequently synonymised with I. anethifolius. The 1891 publication Revisio generum plantarum was German botanist Otto Kuntze's response to what he perceived as poor method in existing nomenclatural practice. Because Isopogon was based on Isopogon anemonifolius, Kuntze revived the latter genus on the grounds of priority, and made the new combination Atylus anethifolius. However, Kuntze's revisionary program was not accepted by the majority of botanists. Like all species in the genus Isopogon, I. anethifolius has 13 haploid chromosomes. ==Distribution and habitat==

{{Multiple image Isopogon anethifolius is found only in New South Wales, where it occurs in the Sydney Basin and surrounds, from Braidwood northwards to Mount Coricudgy in Wollemi National Park. ==Ecology==

Isopogon anethifolius resprouts from its woody base, known as a lignotuber, after bushfire. It is also serotinous—the seeds are held on the plant as a canopy-based seedbank and are released after fire. These then fall directly to the ground or are blown a short distance by wind. Leaf spotting is caused by the fungus Vizella. Flower buds may be damaged by weevils. ==Cultivation==

Isopogon anethifolius was first cultivated in the United Kingdom in 1796. It prefers acidic soil with extra water, though it does not tolerate waterlogging. A part-shaded position is the preferred location, though I. anethifolius grows readily in full sun. The flowers, cones and foliage are used in the cut-flower industry. ==References==