Brachyscome lineariloba

Brachyscome lineariloba, the hard-headed daisy, is a small annual herb in the Asteraceae family, native to inland and southern Australia. It forms a low rosette or tuft of bright green basal leaves that are deeply and narrowly divided into linear segments, giving rise to the specific epithet. Slender, often unbranched flowering stems rise 5 to 25 cm above the foliage, each bearing a single solitary daisy head. The capitulum has a ring of pale blue, mauve or occasionally white ray florets surrounding a button-like centre of yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs from late winter through spring, especially following good rainfall. The fruit is a small, hard, wedge-shaped achene with thickened wing-like margins, a feature that distinguishes it within the genus. The species favours seasonally moist clay soils, claypans, gilgai depressions and disturbed ground in the inland of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and parts of Western Australia and Queensland.