Chrysocoma ciliata flowerheads or capitula

The flowerheads of Chrysocoma ciliata are daisies without rays, just yellow discs of about 1 cm in diameter. Each comprises numerous tiny, five-lobed, bisexual florets with two-branched styles.

The heads grow solitary at the tips of leafy stems, while in profusion on the plant overall. Four rows of narrow, overlapping bracts form each rounded involucre, their margins membranous. The receptacle is without scales.

Both the generic and the specific names suggest hair: The Greek words chrysos meaning gold and kome meaning the hair of the head, refer to the yellow flowerhead appearance in the genus. The specific name, ciliata, relates to cilia or eyelashes, suggesting a hairy fringe as may be seen in C. ciliata heads.

Bloomtime is spring to midsummer. The photo was taken in September in the Biedouw Valley (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2009; iNaturalist).