Othonna L

Magoswana, S. L., Boatwright, J. S., Magee, A. R. & Manning, J. C., 2022, A taxonomic revision of the Othonna coronopifolia L. group (Asteraceae: Senecioneae: Othonninae), South African Journal of Botany 149, pp. 604-616 : 605

Othonna L ., Sp. Pl. 2: 924. (1753).

Type: O. coronopifolia L. , lecto., designated by Green: 184 (1929). For a full genus description see Magoswana et al. (2019)

3.1. Othonna coronopifolia group

Woody shrubs to 1.5 m, stems simple or sparsely branched in upper half or sometimes gnarled and dwarfed, branches erect to flexuous or divaricate, unarmed or ending in a thorn, striate, pale grey or deep red when young becoming pale grey with age, leaf axils cobwebbed. Leaves alternate, mostly fasciculate on short-shoots, axillary or sometimes cauline, blade linear to narrowly lanceolate or narrowly oblanceolate or elliptic or obovate to oblanceolate, rarely subterete ( O. spinescens only), sessile or narrowed below and petiole-like, entire or pinnatisect to partially bi-pinnatisect, rarely bifid to trifid or sometimes sparsely to irregularly toothed or pinnatifid, leathery or succulent, glabrous. In fl orescence of solitary or few to several capitula, terminal on stems or short-shoots forming loose corymbs, or strictly terminal on stems and then a divaricately branched corymb with the peduncles becoming woody and spinescent after flowering. Capitula radiate, rays and discs yellow, rarely darker beneath ( O. leptodactyla only); ovary appressed-puberulous with twin hairs. Cypselae densely appressed-puberulous with myxogenic or nonmyxogenic, white, twin hairs; pappus bristles 5 - 15 mm long, beige. Disc fl orets numerous; pappus of ca. 10 barbellate bristles, united basally. Distribution and ecology: The Othonna coronopifolia group contains six species, mostly restricted to the Greater Cape Floristic Region with two species extending to the Upper Karoo region of South Africa, distributed from Springbok in the Northern Cape through the Core Cape Floristic Region and inland as far north as Colesberg and De Aar in Eastern Cape; on rocky or stony slopes and flats.