Berkheya montana

Berkheya montana, previously scientifically known as B. arctiifolia, is a coarse, leafy perennial reaching heights around 2 m. The slender, unwinged stems bear spines up to 7 mm long.

The alternate, simple leaves are scattered along the stems, decreasing in size on the way up and becoming narrower. The basal leaves have petioles, the upper ones are sessile and half-clasping. The leaf shape is elliptic with variably pointed tips. The leaf margins are sometimes lobed, always shallowly toothed and the teeth spiny. The blades are hairy on top, cobwebby below. The leaf dimensions are about 20 cm long and 10 cm wide.

The flowerheads grow peduncled in panicles from stem-tips. The heads are from 3 cm to 4 cm wide. The involucral bracts around the base are joined lower down and linear to lanceolate in shape, up to 2,5 mm wide. The bract margins are spiny, as are the tips, the outer surfaces glandular. The sterile ray florets are yellow, nearly linear, ending in three longish apical teeth. The yellow disc florets are tubular, fairly long and deeply five-lobed. In picture some long, unbranched styles protrude from open flowers near the perimeter of the disc. Flowering happens from late summer to after midautumn.

The species distribution is inland in KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State, Lesotho and eSwatini.

The habitat is forest margins and swampy ground, at elevations from 1370 m to 1850 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://www.worldfloraonline.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).