Billy ButtonsYellow Billybutton

Billy buttons are attractive Australian native plants that are widespread throughout Australia, and also enjoyed as a home garden plant. This group of flowering plants are best known for the golden-yellow globe-shaped flowers that are on the end of a stalk. In some species the leaves are at the base of the plant. Related to the daisy, Billy buttons are an erect herb and depending on species, growing up to a height of 50 cm.

Billy buttons describe plants in a number of genus, the main being Craspedia, with some described species in the genus Calocephalus. Some species are known as Woollyheads.

The genus Craspedia are native to Australia and New Zealand, growing in a variety of habitats from sea level to the Alps. This genus is found in all states of Australia except the Northern Territory.

Yellow Billybutton (Calocephalus platycephalus), Ilparpa Claypans, Alice Springs NT
Yellow Billybutton (Calocephalus platycephalus), Ilparpa Claypans, Alice Springs NT

The genus Calocephalus include two species Calocephalus platycephalus (Yellow Billybutton) and Calocephalus knappii (Billybutton).

Another genus Pycnosorus are also commonly known as billy buttons or drumsticks.

In the wild, Billy buttons can be seen flowering during spring and early summer, whilst in the arid regions, they will even flower after significant rain and are often seen among some spectacular wildflowers displays.

White Paper Daisy with Yellow Billy Buttons, Owen Springs Reserve, NT
White Paper Daisy with Yellow Billy Buttons, Owen Springs Reserve, NT

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Plantae
  • Clade: Tracheophytes
  • Clade: Angiosperms
  • Clade: Eudicots
  • Clade: Asterids
  • Order: Asterales
  • Family: Asteraceae
  • Subfamily: Asteroideae
  • Tribe: Gnaphalieae
  • Genus:
    • Calocephalus
    • Craspedia
    • Pycnosorus

Billy ButtonsYellow Billybutton

FloraFlora in Australia Flora Index Acacia Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paws) Annual Yellowtop Apium prostratum subsp. prostratum var filiforme Apple Bush (Pterocaulon sphacelatum) Australian Bluebell Australian Gossypium Banksia Batswing Coral Tree Billy Buttons Birdsville Indigo Blue Pincushion Bush Banana Callistemon Callitris drummondii (Drummond’s Cypress Pine) Calothamnus quadrifidus Cape Honeysuckle Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) Cattle Bush Common Heath Crotalaria Darwinia wittwerorum (Wittwer’s Mountain Bell) Daviesia oppositifolia (Rattle-pea) Desert Oaks Drumsticks Eremophila Eucalyptus Ficus Flannel Cudweed (Actinobole uliginosum) Georges Indigo Goatshead Burr (Sclerolaena bicornis) Golden Everlasting Goodenia Gossypium Grass and Grasses Grass Trees Grevillea Grey Germander Hakea Kapok Bush (Aerva javanica) Lambertia sp Leptospermum MacDonnell Ranges Cycad Maireana scleroptera Mexican Poppy Minnie Daisy Mistletoe Family Nardoo Native Apricot Nicotiana megalosiphon subspecies sessilifolia Nuytsia floribunda Orange Spade Flower Orchidaceae Parakeelyas (Calandrinia) Pebble Bush (Stylobasium spathulatum) Perennial Yellow Top Pink Everlasting Pink Rock Wort Poached Egg Daisy Portulaca Proteaceae Ptilotus Quandong Resurrection Fern Rosy Dock Ruby Saltbush Santalum Solanum Spike Centaury Spinifex Storkbill (Erodium cygnorum) Striped Mint Bush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tall Saltbush Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Tribulus eichlerianus Upside-down Plant Urodon dasyphylla Variable Daisy Waratah (Telopea) Wertabona Daisy White Cedar (Melia azedarach) White Indigo White Paper Daisy Wild Passionfruit Wild Stock Woolly-Headed Burr Daisy Woolly Bush Yellow-keeled Swainsona

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