Dicoma tomentosa flowering

The flowerheads of Dicoma tomentosa grow from leaf axils of upper stems, shaped like inverted cones. They are discoid and thistle-like, surrounded by several rows of spine-tipped bracts. The bracts are pale at the base with purple margins and spines, whitish to beige on the inside. The outer bracts tend to spread widely in older flowerheads and the fruiting stage.

The cluster of about ten tiny disc florets on the plant photographed are whitish to yellowish, the five petal tips curving back strongly. The flowers were photographed at Mjejane in April (iNaturalist; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).