Othonna RETRORSA - Othonna retrorsa.
Othonna is a genus in the Asteraceae family, comprising about 85 recognized species distributed primarily across southern Africa, from Angola and Namibia to the Cape Provinces, Lesotho, Eswatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Provinces, and Zimbabwe. Members of the genus occur in dry scrub communities, on sandy and rocky slopes, in rock fissures, on plains, and in seasonally arid subtropical habitats.
The genus is characterized by tuberous or swollen underground organs, sometimes a pronounced caudex, as well as succulent or semi-succulent stems. Growth forms vary from small tuberous herbs to subshrubs and small shrubs. Leaves across species range from entire to lobed or dissected, sessile or petiolate, often fleshy and adapted to seasonal moisture shortages.
The inflorescences in Othonna are flower heads (capitula), most often yellow, solitary or clustered in small groups. The fruits are single-seeded achenes, typically very light and equipped with a bristly pappus that allows wind dispersal. Many species exhibit seasonal growth cycles where foliage develops during the cooler, wetter period of the year.
Othonna retrorsa is a rare caudiciform plant with a restricted native range. It is a succulent species with a multi-headed woolly caudex that produces rosettes of very distinctive, leathery, reticulate-veined leaves. The leaves persist at the base, and their dried remains accumulate around the short stems, gradually breaking down into a fibrous mass. From each rosette, one or several branched peduncles develop bearing small yellow flower heads. With age, it reaches up to 10 cm (3.9 in) in height and 30 cm (11.8 in) in diameter.