Annual herb to 50 cm tall, hairy. Stems erect or ascending. Leaves ovate, to 6 cm long, to 2.5 cm wide, once or twice divided, ultimate segments linear, slightly hairy. Capitula radiate, solitary, to 6 cm across; summer. Ray florets yellow or purplish. Disk florets yellow or purplish. Achenes 4-6 mm long, curved, with a basal hair tuft. Pappus of 5 broad-ovate scales.

Namibia

The subsp. versicolor (DC.) Prassler has glabrous involucral bracts (hairy in subsp. anthemoides) and orange-yellow ray florets that are purplish towards the base.

Source: Lawson, L.; Spencer, R. (2002). Dahlia. 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.