Monoecious annual herbs.
Leaves alternate, crenate, deeply toothed or lobed. Capitula unisexual, discoid. Male capitula terminal, spherical, many-flowered; phyllaries few, free; receptacular scales present; corolla 5-dentate. Female capitula axillary, 2-flowered; involucre enclosing and surrounding the 2 flowers, covered with hooked bristles; corolla 0; pappus 0. Achenes obovoid or oblong, enclosed in the persistent hard involucre which bears many hooked spines.Unusual-looking plants, atypical for Asteraceae. Derivation of name: from Greek: xanthos, meaning yellow, referring to the fruit which turn from green to yellow as they ripen. Worldwide: c. 3 species, now cosmopolitan Zimbabwe: 2 taxa. |
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