Greek xeros — dry, anthos — flower, an allusion to the dry papery capitula.
Annual herbs, hairy. Stems erect, branched. Leaves along stems, alternate, entire. Capitula diskiform, terminal, solitary, with stalks. Involucral bracts in several rows, overlapping, unequal, inner long and often radiating, white, pink or purplish. Receptacle with scales, convex. Florets white, pink lilac or mauve. Outer florets female, sterile, filiform. Inner florets bisexual, tubular. Achenes obovoid, silky-hairy. Pappus of unequal, long-pointed scales.
Colourful radiating inner involucral bracts; receptacle with short scales; pappus of pointed scales.
5 species from the Mediterranean region and SW Asia.
Source: (2002). Dahlia. 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.