Isopogon anethifolius is a shrub usually between 1 and 3 m (3 and 10 ft) high with an upright habit (tall and thin with mostly vertical stems).

The globular yellow flowerheads, known as inflorescences, appear at the ends of branches in spring and early summer (September to December),[5][6] though occasionally at other times of year.

[12] Isopogon anethifolius was among the plants collected by English botanist Joseph Banks and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander on 5 May 1770 at Botany Bay during the first voyage of Captain James Cook.

[13] A drawing by Scottish artist Sydney Parkinson was the source for a subsequent painting by James Britten, published in 1905.

[15] English botanist Richard Salisbury described the species in 1796 as Protea anethifolia,[16] from a specimen collected in Port Jackson (Sydney).

[17] The species name is derived from the Latin words anethum "dill" and folium "leaf", from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the herb.

[18] In 1799, the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles described Protea acufera,[19] later identified as a synonym by Salisbury and Robert Brown.

Brown's description appeared in his paper On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae in the Transactions of the Linnean Society in 1810.

He described I. globosus from the Port Jackson district on the basis of round (rather than oval) infructescences (cones), and I. virgatulus from Western Australia.

[24] The 1891 publication Revisio generum plantarum was German botanist Otto Kuntze's response to what he perceived as poor method in existing nomenclatural practice.

[29] Isopogon anethifolius is found only in New South Wales, where it occurs in the Sydney Basin and surrounds, from Braidwood northwards to Mount Coricudgy in Wollemi National Park.

The species occurs naturally from sea level to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) altitude and is found on sandstone in heathland and dry sclerophyll woodland.

[6] Typical trees it is associated with include the scribbly gums Eucalyptus haemastoma and E. sclerophylla and silvertop ash (E. sieberi), open forest plants such as soft geebung (Persoonia mollis), and heathland plants such as heath banksia (Banksia ericifolia), dwarf she-oak (Allocasuarina nana) and Wingello grevillea (Grevillea molyneuxii).

[4] The fine foliage, red stems, bright yellow flowers in spring and distinctive drumsticks afterwards make I. anethifolius an appealing garden plant.