Description:

• Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes almost stemless, or subshrubs, ± canotomentose or glandular
• Leaves alternate, sessile or petiolate, entire to lobed-pinnatisect
• Capitula radiate, solitary, pedunculate, many-flowered
• Involucre campanulate; bracts in 5 or 6 rows, ovate to linear, acuminate or with foliaceous apex and often with membranous margin, sometimes ciliate
• Receptacle flat, honeycombed, margins of pits extended into linear processes
• Ray florets female; corolla white, cream, yellow, orange, pink, purple, violet or bluish; tube compressed, oblong-linear, with linear, 3-toothed lamina up to 6 × longer than tube
• Staminodes often present
• Style linear or terete, often swollen globose at base, thickened above, with ± elliptic-lanceolate branches
• Disc florets bisexual, fertile or female-sterile; corolla yellow or dark coloured; tube abruptly widened above, with 5 lanceolate, usually glandular lobes
• Anthers calcarate, shortly caudate, with ovate apical appendage; endothecial tissue radial
• Style terete, with ring at base and thickened above, shortly bifid
• Cypselas obovoid-conical, ventrally smooth or rugose and without ribs, dorsally with 3-5 strong ribs or wings sometimes forming 2 dorsal furrows or concavities at maturity, sericeous or pilose or glabrous, often with basal tuft of long hairs
• Pappus of 1 or 2 rows of large or small scales as long as corolla tube, sometimes 0
• x = 9

Nomenclature:

• Arctotis L.
  • Linnaeus: 922 (1753)
  • Harvey: 448 (1865)
  • Lewin: 54 (1922)
  • Bremer: 258 (1994)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Species ± 64, southern Africa and Angola
• Southern Africa: Species ± 64, mostly Eastern and Western Cape and Namaqualand, a few species more widespread, absent from Swaziland