Felicia josephinae J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

Annual herb 150-200 mm high, branching near base; stems sparsely leafy, hispid with short and long multicellular hairs and with numerous shortly stipitate glands in upper parts. Leaves decreasing in size up stem; lower leaves opposite, soon withering, oblanceolate, 30-70 x 6-13 mm, narrowed to petiole-like base, thinly hispid with long multicellular hairs; upper leaves mostly alternate, becoming progressively lanceolate to linear, hispid with long and short multicellular hairs. Capitula heterogamous, radiate, solitary on terminal and axillary peduncles up to 50 mm long, with few, scattered, subulate bracts. Involucre narrowly ovoid, ± 5 mm high and 4 mm diam.; involucral bracts biseriate, 11-13, glandular-hairy and thinly setose in upper half, 4-5 mm long, with scarious margins and ciliate tips, outer bracts linear with narrow margins, ± 1 mm wide, inner bracts oblanceolate with broad margins, ± 1.5 mm wide. Receptacle flat, epaleate, alveolate. Ray florets female, 8 or 9; tube cylindrical, glandular-hairy, 2.5-3.0 mm long; lamina spreading, elliptic-oblanceolate, 10-12 x 4-6 mm, 4-veined, white to cream-coloured. Ovary narrowly elliptic, adpressed-hairy; style terete with linear branches, not or shortly exserted, branches ± 1 mm long, acute, margins stigmatic. Pappus absent. Cypselas obovate, 2.5-3.0 x ± 1.5 mm, flattened with thickened margins, faces and margins covered with adpressed hairs, pale brown. Disc florets bisexual, 14 or 15, deep purple, inner florets functionally male; tube cylindrical but widening slightly in upper part, glandular-hairy, 2.5-3.0 mm long, limb obliquely obconical, 5-lobed; lobes triangular, recurved, ± 1 x 0.8 mm, with thickened margins. Anthers ± 2 mm long including ovate, somewhat keeled apical appendage, deep blue with white pollen; anther base obtuse, ecaudate. Ovary narrowly elliptic, adpressed-hairy; style terete, branches ± 1 mm long, purple, incurved, linear, flattened with stigmatic margins and sterile, triangular, papillate apical appendages. Pappus bristles uniseriate, ± 25, spreading in fruit, caducous, 3-4 mm long, barbellate but subplumose near middle, connate at base into short collar, white. Cypselas as in ray florets.