PlantFiles: Horny Cone-bush, Wild Irishman
Isopogon ceratophyllus

This has to be one of the spiniest of all plants. The leaves are densely packed together and each leaf has up to 27 spines on it. The leaf branches in three, then in three again and then each branch may branch in three a third time. This gives the individual leaf the form of a deer's antler, leading to the name ceratophyllus, which means antler-leaved.
Collecting seed from this plant needs extreme bravery (or thick gloves). The seed cones are retained deep among the spiny leaves.
This little shrub grows mainly in sandy areas near the coast in Victoria, and South Australia and on Flinders Island in Tasmania.
I collected seed (with my bare hands) on Flinders Island in 1984 and the two plants I have in my garden are still thriving and are now far larger than any I have seen in the wild, forming a dense tangle about 1 metre high and nearly 2 metres across. The bright yellow flower heads are attractive, but can be rather lost among the leaves.
The seed capsules are like cones, with a seed underneath each scale. The capsules are held a long time on the shrub and are therefore available for collecting at any time and the seed is fairly easy to extract once the capsules have dried.