Crassothonna cylindrica flowerhead

The cluster of Crassothonna cylindrica disc florets protrude above the spreading bright yellow rays like cake on a platter.

The many disc florets are all male. Each open one shows one yellow anther exserted upon a sturdy filament above its tiny, five-lobed corolla. The corolla is paler yellow than the rays, the disc florets incapable of forming fruit. Only in the centre of the disc some floret buds are still closed, globular like pieces of butter prepared for the table.

The ray florets forming one ring around the disc are fertile, capable of producing the plant’s ellipsoid fruit after the flowerhead goes (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Manning, 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).