Felicia muricata branch

This Felicia muricata branch displays some pre- and post-flowering flowerhead stalks. The former ones are thick and filled with sap, shiny and hairy; the latter ones thin, dry and pale. They represent the extremes of the flowering cycle: full of promise or empty but fulfilled.

The young stems holding flowerheads at their tips are green, older ones turn brown, fine hairs visible upon their surface among the leaves. Yet older stems lower down tend to be grey, woody and bare.

There are no scales on the receptacle at the flowerhead base visible in the photo (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; iSpot).