Syncarpha eximia closed and open flowerheads

It is the buds of Syncarpha eximia that earned the plant the strawberry everlasting name. In bud the flowerheads are globular, several rows of rounded and pointy-tipped involucral bracts forming the strawberry-like spheres that turn rose-red to bright red before they open.

The papery bracts are convex on the outside and sometimes glistening. They part in the centre, exposing the disc florets that start blooming from the perimeter in a profusion of orange stamens. The head becomes up to 2,5 cm in diameter.

Numerous flowerheads grow among the upper leaves in branched clusters, the overall inflorescence about flat-topped and compact at the tip of the erect, leafy stem.

Flowering happens from late spring to early autumn (Manning, 2007; Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).