Kingdom Plantae Family Proteaceae Scientific name Isopogon adenanthoides | Order Proteales Genus Isopogon Rank Species | |
Similar Isopogon divergens, Isopogon latifolius, Isopogon dubius, Isopogon ceratophyllus, Isopogon anemonifolius | ||
Isopogon adenanthoides, commonly known as the spider coneflower, is a small shrub that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is usually between 0.3 and 1 metre high and produces pink to purple flowers between June and October in the species native range.
The species was first formally described by botanist Carl Meissner in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany in 1855. 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. Because Isopogon was based on Isopogon anemonifolius, and that species had already been placed by Richard Salisbury in the segregate genus Atylus in 1807, Kuntze revived the latter genus on the grounds of priority, and made the new combination Atylus adenanthoides for this species. However, Kuntze's revisionary program was not accepted by the majority of botanists. Ultimately, the genus Isopogon was nomenclaturally conserved over Atylus by the International Botanical Congress of 1905.