Cullumia aculeata old flowerhead holding the fruit

The old, brown flowerhead of Cullumia aculeata in picture still retains its long spines on the margins and tips of the involucral bracts. There are stem-leaves right up to the flowerhead. The photo was taken during April.

When flowering, the involucral bracts form a cup-shape below the yellow flowerhead. The receptacle at the base of the head is honeycombed, without scales.

Spreading to a diameter in excess of 2 cm over the involucre is a whorl of sterile, yellow ray florets, maroon on their outer surfaces. They encircle a small disc packed with tiny yellow florets that are fertile and deeply five-lobed. Flowering happens throughout the year.

The fruits have no pappuses in Cullumia, differentiating them from Berkheya (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; www.worldfloraonline.org).