Annual herb to 45 cm tall, glabrous. Stems ascending, branched. Leaves along stems, to 7 cm long, once or twice divided, with linear to oblanceolate segments, sessile. Capitula to 2.5 cm across, solitary on long stalks; autumn to winter. Ray florets white, pink or mauve. Achenes slightly compressed, without wings, faces warty, each wart surmounted by a minute forked hair. Pappus a ring of minute bristles.
Qld, NSW, Vic
var. dilatata Benth. Lobes of leaves oblanceolate to cuneate.
var. multifida Lobes of leaves narrow-linear to subulate.
Hybrids between B. multifida and B. curvicarpa G.L.R. Davis and B. rigidula are available in horticulture.
Other cultivars listed include: B. 'Alba' with white flowers, c. 1980, and B. 'Lemon Drops', c. 1992.
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.
Brachyscome multifida 'Amethyst'
Foliage finely divided on non-suckering stems 10-30 cm tall. Flower heads 1.5-2 cm wide, amethyst-violet with green centres, on stems that are often dark red.
Arose in the garden of Peg McAllister, Vic.
Brachyscome multifida 'Breakoday'
Flowers with deep mauve heads 2-3 cm wide and with green centres at first, prolific from spring to autumn. Spreads from the base very rapidly.
A chance seedling from Peg McAllister's garden in the 1980s.
Brachyscome multifida 'Bright Eyes'
A cushion 10-15 cm tall with deep mauve flower heads 1-1.5 cm wide; year round. ['Blue Eyes']
May have originated several times, once in Peg McAllister's garden as a chance seedling.
