Felicia bergeriana ageing flowerhead

When a Felicia bergeriana flowerhead ages, the blue ray florets curl up, while the green involucral bracts remain firm and the disc florets turn brown into fruit. This starts in sequence from the perimeter of the disc, the last yellow buds in the disc centre now busy opening or losing their chance of ever doing so.

The dull purple peduncle below is not as hairy as the involucre, while the first fruits sport pappus bristles, matching the outer hairiness.

The curling back of the rays is here not a precision job in parade ground sense, as ray blades are no longer in the focus of floral development once fruiting takes precedence. The ray blades are longitudinally vein-lined (Manning, 2007; iNaturalist).