Osmitopsis asteriscoides leaves and flowers

The alternate, simple, sessile leaves of Osmitopsis asteriscoides ascend or spread up the stems, sometimes only concentrated on the younger, hairy, upper stem parts. The older stems on mature plants can have long, bare parts, their grey bark faintly scarred where leaves dropped off.

The leaf-shape is lanceolate, tapering to the tip and the margins entire. The mid-green to grey green blades are often velvety from indumenta of soft, whitish hairs. The leaves vary in length, mostly between 1 cm and 6 cm.

The flowers appear in loose clusters on short, upper side-branchlets. The involucre is bell-shaped, its bracts in a few overlapping whorls positioned close to the upper stem leaves. The spreading, white ray florets are oblong with rounded tips. The central floral disc is yellow, comprising numerous bisexual florets, tubular and five-lobed.

There is no pappus on the fruit.

The daisy flowers may appear at almost any time of the year, although autumn and early winter may see no flowers (Marais, (Ed.), 2017; Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).