Bolandia pinnatifida flowerhead buds

The ovoid bud of a Bolandia pinnatifida flowerhead is covered by one row of long, linear involucral bracts that cohere determinedly and fold their acutely pointed tips in clasping fashion over the top of the head where the buds will appear. The dark green and purple red bracts are thickly fleshy and sparsely hairy, sometimes faintly grooved down the centre.

The long peduncle is not yet erect in the bud stage. It has small, narrow-based, triangular stem-leaves scattered sparsely and ascending. The peduncle is covered densely in whitish hairs, here pressed against the stalk (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).