Curio ficoides flowerheads in different stages

The creamy-white flowerheads of Curio ficoides bear only disc florets, no rays. The five whitish corolla lobes at the top of each disc floret tube have recurving tips. Stamens and branched styles are exserted in a few of the open flowers in picture.

The specific name, ficoides, is derived from ficus, the Latin name for a fig, referring to the fig resemblance in the flowerhead shape. Figs of the world do look quite different, maybe some appear like this.

The flowerheads are about cylindrical when open. A few, linear bracteoles are visible, spreading around the base of each involucre. Flowerheads are about 7 mm in diameter when the florets are open.

The heads become cone-shaped with the narrow part of the conic section at the top immediately after flowering. The narrow bracts are then still green, while the floral leftovers on the top have darkened. The cone inverts when dry, becoming wider at the top when the dark brown fruithead is ripe for releasing the pappus-enabled fruits in dispersal.

Maybe the black, cylindrical head is halfway through the inversion of the cone (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).