Oldenburgia grandis Baill.

Shrub or small tree 1-5 m tall with gnarled, rough, dark stems and branches. Leaves obovate or oblanceolate with obtuse or subacute apices, range up to 200-100 mm. Peduncles to 500 mm, densely tomentose, bearing several leaf-like bracts and 3-5 cymosely arranged capitula. Involucre cyathiform range up to 80 x 80 mm. Involucral bracts numerous, about 10-seriate, narrowly lanceolate and closely imbricate, but with reflexed acuminate tips, 15-40 mm long, about 3 mm wide at base, dark maroon with white-tomentose bases. Ray florets about 60, sub-uniseriate, white, tube c. 15 mm long, outer lip 3-toothed, 16-22 mm long, 2 mm wide, inner lobes 11-15 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide; anthers about 14 mm long, including 4 mm long tails; style up to 35 mm long; achenes fusiform, glabrous, 10-ribbed, 12-15 mm long,1.5-3 mm wide; pappus of about 18 barbellate bristles of uniform length and thickness, about 25 mm long. Disc florets about 800, white, tube 14-16 mm long, lobes 14-16 mm long; anthers 10-17 mm long, including 3-5-mm long tails, style 30-37 mm long; achenes as in ray florets except the pappus with 20-26 bristles about 30 mm long.