Helichrysum zeyheri some open florets

    Helichrysum zeyheri some open florets
    Author: Ivan Lätti
    Photographer: Thabo Maphisa

    When the Helichrysum zeyheri flowerheads open, the yellow of the tubular florets show in the flat-topped, branched inflorescence. The younger heads, not yet open are pointed with cone-shaped tips. Their pale, overlapping involucral bracts grow convex and pointed in several rows around each head.

    After flowering the head turns brown on top where the florets fade, the involucre retaining shape in sheltering the seed production. The florets along the outer margins of Helichrysum heads are female, their curving style branches becoming exserted. The central, five-lobed florets are bisexual, anthers with tail-like appendages also present. There are only few florets in each of these heads, but both floret types may be present (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iNaturalist).

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