Description:

• Perennial herbs or shrubs
• Leaves alternate, sometimes radical, sessile, leafbases often decurrent, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, linear, sometimes needle-like, frequently with revolute, entire margins, hairy (hair type B) and glandular-hairy
• Capitula radiate, solitary, terminal, sessile or pedunculate, rarely aggregated and spike-like
• Involucre cup-shaped or campanulate; bracts in 6-8 rows, lanceolate to linear, spreading and bristle-pointed and often ciliate above and woolly on back; stereome undivided
• Receptacle flat, epaleate
• Ray florets female, in 1 row; corolla white or purple; tube usually cylindric, with minutely 3-toothed elliptic to lanceolate lamina ± as long as tube, glandular-hairy
• Disc florets bisexual; corolla yellow or white; tube slightly widening upwards, with 5 ovate lobes
• Anthers ecalcarate, caudate; with oblong, apical appendage, endothecial tissue polarised
• Style bifid; style branches obtuse, dorsally with obtuse sweeping hairs not reaching furcation; stigmatic surface basally separated but apically converging
• Cypselas 3-6-ribbed, brown, sparsely hairy with elongated twin hairs
• Pappus white, persistent, in 2 rows, outer row of scales, rarely subbarbellate bristles, inner row of subbarbellate bristles

Nomenclature:

• Athrixia Ker Gawl.
  • Ker Gawler: t. 681 (1823)
  • Harvey: 291 (1865)
  • Kroner: 46 (1980)
  • Anderberg: 47 (1991)
  • Anderberg: 323 (1994)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Species 14, south and tropical Africa and Madagascar
• Southern Africa: Species 9, widespread but absent from Namibia, Botswana and Northern Cape