Linzia glabra flowerheads

The flowerheads of Linzia glabra grow in great profusion at numerous stem-tips, branched into flat-topped inflorescences.

The light to dark, blue-purple florets grow in few-flowered discs, held in position by involucres comprising several rows of bracts. Each bisexual floret is tubular, its five, free, oblong lobes spreading and curving in before their tips. Some tall, two-branched styles are visible in the photo, the branches strongly recurving.

Flowering happens in summer and autumn. The photo was taken during March at Kirstenbosch (iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).