Ursinia speciosa flowerhead

The flowerhead of Ursinia speciosa is borne solitary on a long, slender, naked peduncle. The involucre comprises several rows of bracts, each with a papery, transparent, fringed margin and rounded tip.

There is one whorl of ray florets, narrowly oblanceolate and spreading with three-pointed tips. The rays are orange, yellow or occasionally white, in picture pale cream with deep yellow markings at the base. The rays may be sterile while the small, tubular disc florets clustered in the centre are fertile.

The disc florets are yellow, sometimes purple, their tubes ending in five petal lobes. The flowerhead diameter is about 5 cm.

Flowering occurs late in winter and early spring (Le Roux, et al, 2005; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).