Annual or short-lived perennial herb to 70 cm tall, glandular-hairy. Stems erect or ascending, branched. Leaves lanceolate to round, to 20 cm long,margins more or less entire. Capitula to about 10 cm across, solitary; most of the year. Involucral bracts in 2 layers, acuminate, hairy. Ray florets in 2 or 3 rows, yellow. Outer achenes beaked, curved, spiny on back. Inner achenes strongly curved, short-beaked, 3-winged, wrinkled.

Mediterranean region

A commonly cultivated and variable species that is used as an annual bedding plant and available in a wide range of named seed mixes, mostly in shades of yellow and orange.

Source: Jeanes, J. (2002). Asteraceae. In: Spencer, R.. 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.