Greek asteriskos — little star, from the shape of the capitula.
Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs. Leaves basal and/or along stems, alternate, entire, hairy. Capitula radiate, terminal, solitary. Involucral bracts in several overlapping rows, unequal, the outer leaf-like and spreading. Receptacle with folded scales, smooth, convex. Ray florets female, yellow or cream.disk florets bisexual, tubular, yellow. Achenes variable, sometimes terete, compressed and winged or 3- or 4-angled, usually hairy. Pappus of large scales, sometimes absent in outer achenes.
Entire simple leaves; folded receptacle scales; pappus of large scales.
3 species from S Europe, N Africa and the Middle East.
Wiklund (1985).
Source: (2002). Asteraceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
