Oedera capensis (original) (raw)

Oedera capensis is a prickly shrublet belonging to the family Asteraceae. It has stems that branch only at the foot and are densely set over their entire length with narrowly triangular leathery leaves with a sharp tip at approximately right angles to the stem. At their tip are what at first sight appears to be a single flowerhead with yellow ray florets and yellow disc florets. In fact, these are mostly nine densely cropped heads, as is suggested by the nine domes of the "disc" of the composite head, the untidy arrangement of the ray florets, and becomes very clear when cutting through the composite head. It is an endemic of the south of the Western Cape province in South Africa.