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Craspedia globosa (Billy Buttons) - A tufting perennial that forms clumps of 12 to 18 inch tall narrow gray foliage which supports two to 2 1/2-foot-tall flower stalks that hold balls of small yellow flowers (they look like little tennis balls!) throughout the year. The foliage is covered with dense hairs giving the plant a silvery appearance.
Plant in full sun and water occasionally to infrequently. Tolerates heavy soil, winter inundation and is cold hardy to about 20-25 degrees F. An interesting and attractive plant for the garden or in containers. The flowers dry well for use in dry arrangements and another common name used in Australia for this plant is Drumsticks because of these attractive flowers that are often used in crafts.
Craspedia globosa comes from heavy soils on the plains of eastern Australia in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victorian and South Australia. The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'kraspedon' meaning an "edge", "hem", or "border" in reference to the woolly fringes or margins found on the leaves of the original type species, Craspedia uniflora. The original description included only this one type species but later plants in the genus Pycnosorus were included. In 1992 these were segregated and Craspedia globosa was returned to its previous name Pycnosorus globosus given to it by the British botanist George Bentham in 1837. This genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek words 'pyknos' meaning "dense" or "thick" and 'soros' meaning a "heap". Some note that Craspedia and Pycnosorus may be monophyletic, so perhaps these genera will be reunited again at some point. Though Pycnosorus globosus is considered its current name, we continue to use the well-established name we received this plant under until such time as this name gets broader recognition.
We first started growing this plant in 1989 after admiring it growing in Australian gardens that year and we continued to grow and sell it until we closed the nursery in 2025.
The information displayed on this page about Craspedia globosa is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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