Gazania ciliaris

Gazania ciliaris is a compact, tufted perennial that reaches 15 cm in height.

The narrow leaves grow in a basal rosette. They may be pinnate, having a few narrow, lateral lobes in their upper parts. The dark green, glossy and often leathery blades are channelled along their midribs (and central lobe veins), sparsely fringed along the margins.

The short-stalked flowerheads are orange with brown, variable rings near the base on the ray floret lowest parts. Several rows of involucral bracts with ciliate margins form cup-shaped, green bases below the florets. The disc florets are bisexual and five-lobed. Flowering happens from before midwinter until early spring.

The species distribution is mostly in the Western Cape from Vanrhynsdorp and the Gifberg to Riversdale and into the Eastern Cape as far as Joubertina.

The habitat is rocky fynbos slopes. The species is not considered threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; Wikipedia; http://redlist.sanbi.org).