Description:

• Subshrubs or lignescent herbs, branched, with vestiture of stout, thick-based, usually spreading hairs
• Leaves alternate, sessile, linear, entire, usually ciliate, sometimes glandular-hairy
• Capitula radiate, many-flowered, usually solitary, on long peduncles, rarely corymbose
• Involucre campanulate; bracts in 3 or 4 rows, linear, oblong or elliptic, 1-nerved, with broad scarious margins, usually ciliate, glabrous or scurfy on back
• Receptacle somewhat concave, honeycombed, epaleate
• Ray florets female; corolla white or blue, tube cylindric, with linear or oblong-linear, 2- or 3-fid lamina
• Style terete, with flattened, lanceolate or linear branches
• Disc florets functionally male, sterile; corolla yellow; tube cylindric, campanulate or widening gradually above
• Anthers linear, ecalcarate and ecaudate; with ovate, membranous, apical appendage
• Cypselas oblong-obovate, 2-nerved, strongly compressed, surface black at maturity and minutely 'pebbled', moderately to densely invested with short, white papillae, glabrous to glabrate
• Pappus of ray florets 0 or of 1 or 2 barbellate or plumose caducous bristles in a single row; of disc florets of 2 or 3 barbellate or plumose caducous bristles

Nomenclature:

• Gymnostephium Less.
  • Lessing: 185 (1832)
  • Harvey: 66 (1865)
  • Bremer: 422 (1994)
  • Nesom: 85 (1994)

Distribution & Notes:

• Southern Africa: Species 8, endemic, Western Cape