Cotula turbinata flowerhead from behind

The back view of a Cotula turbinata flowerhead shows one row of ornately shaped, broad-based involucral bracts spreading below the florets. The second row of bracts usually said to be present isn’t visible. There is a thin, dark line centrally down the length of each bract, continuing on the inflated stem; the bracts are three-veined. The bract margins are brown, thin and membranous (scarious).

The conically inflated or swollen and hollow stem-tip attaching to the head develops during the fruiting stage in this species. The specific name, turbinata, is derived from the Latin word, turbo or turben meaning a whirl, a twirl, a swirl or an eddy and the Latin suffix -atus meaning likeness. This refers to the spinning-top or obconical shape of the inflated fruithead (Manning, 007; Manning and Goldblatt, 1996; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Andrew, 2017; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://pza.sanbi.org).