Caputia

Caputia is a genus of herbs and shrubs in the Asteraceae family. The genus was formed in 2012 of a group of species formerly belonging in Senecio.

The alternate, succulent, stalkless leaves are often cylindrical, borne erectly and slightly curved, while others have flat, succulent blades grown in rosettes. There is often a hairy to velvety indumentum upon the leaves.

The inflorescences comprise yellow flowerheads on peduncles of varying length. A flowerhead consists of multiple disc florets that are bisexual and five-lobed, often also a ring of female ray florets. The bell-shaped or cup-shaped involucre consists of one row of narrow, green bracts on a hairless receptacle. The fruits are cylindrical, attached to white, bristly pappuses.

There are five Caputia species, all occurring in South Africa. The generic name was derived from the name of the Cape of Good Hope, referring to the geographical distribution of these plants. This fairly new genus is reported as a possible hybrid, a curious situation which might change later.

The plant in picture is Caputia scaposa var. scaposa (Nordenstam and Pelser, 2012: Caputia, a new genus to accommodate four succulent South African Senecioneae (Compositae) species. Compositae Newsletter, 50, pp. 56 – 69; Wikipedia; https://succulentsonline.co.za).