Wentworth Falls Lake Sculpture Walk
Take a walk and discover the carved sandstone sculptures in the park.
Like golden orbs of spring sunshine, the densely packed terminal flower heads of the Isopogon radiate a yellow glow into the shrub layer of eucalypt forests and woodlands. Each yellow flower is only 10-12mm long and is surrounded by furry bracts.
After pollination the bracts become larger and woody and cluster tightly around the globular fruiting head which becomes the ‘drumstick’. After many years the bracts dry out and fall, releasing the seeds.
The seed is a nut, 2-3mm long, and covered with long fine hairs from which the name ‘Isopogon’ meaning ‘equal bearded’, is derived.
When not in flower this 1-2m tall upright shrub, is noticed for its foliage. Changing from rusty-red to mid-green, the leaves are so deeply dissected into multiple flat narrow segments that the leaf blade virtually disappears.
Family: Proteaceae
Image Credit: Sonja van As Isopogon anemonifolius (Drumsticks) 2000, carved sandstone, 55 x 100 x 85 cm, Wentworth Falls Lake Sculpture Project, Blue Mountains City Art Collection