Osmitopsidinae Oberpr. & Himmelr.

Oberprieler, Christoph, Töpfer, Alisha, Dorfner, Marco, Stock, Miriam & Vogt, Robert, 2022, An updated subtribal classification of Compositae tribe Anthemideae based on extended phylogenetic reconstructions, Willdenowia 52 (1), pp. 117-149 : 124

1. Osmitopsidinae Oberpr. & Himmelr. in Willdenowia 37: 94. 2007. – Type: Osmitopsis Cass. ( Osmitopsis asteriscoides (L.) Less.).

Description — Shrubs or subshrubs. Indumentum absent or of basifixed hairs. Leaves alternate, entire to lobed. Capitula solitary or in lax corymbs, radiate. Involucre campanulate. Phyllaries in 2–4 rows, often with scarious margins. Receptacle flat to conic, paleate; paleae narrowly elliptic to obovate, canaliculate and enclosing florets. Ray florets female or neuter; limb white, occasionally pilose abaxially, tube occasionally pilose. Disc florets hermaphrodite or male; corolla 5-lobed, yellow; anthers basally caudate, with non-polarized endothecial tissue and a slender filament collar; stylopodium sometimes large and persistent in fruit. Achenes obovoid to ellipsoid, 3- or 4-angled or -ribbed; apex with a corona of subulate to triangular, basally fused scales or marginally rounded. Embryo sac development unknown. Base chromosome number x = 10.

Distribution — South Africa.

Members — Osmitopsis Cass. (9).

Notes — The isolated position of the genus in the tribe already mentioned by Bremer (1972) and Nordenstam (1987) and acknowledged by classification in a unigeneric subtribe by Oberprieler & al. (2007) is unequivocally supported by the present phylogenetic reconstructions. The similarity with Inulanthera (subtribe Inulantherinae ) and Hippolytia (Artemisiinae) due to the possession of basally caudate anthers does not correspond to a close evolutionary relationship to these genera.