Cineraria cyanomontana is a small herbaceous perennial plant of the sunflower or daisy family (Asteraceae) that lives for more than 2 years. The plant is multi-stemmed and grows up to 450 mm tall. The stems are usually hairy but eventually become hairless at the woody base, when mature. The leaf is assembled as discrete leaflets and palmately veined (Fig. 1). The plant produces small daisy-like flowerheads with 7 or 8 yellow ray florets and 32 disc florets  in a lax panicle of 3 to 12 flowers. Cineraria cyanomontana is known to flower in winter (June) and summer (December).

Fig. 2. Flower morphology of the closely related Cineraria lyratiformis, which is similar to that of C. cyanomontana. Photo: Deon du Plessis

Cineraria cyanomontana is commonly confused with Cineraria aspera based on leaf morphology. Key among the differentiating characters is the shape of the leaf margins (lobes). The leaf margins of C. cyanomontana are entire (Fig. 1), meaning they are smooth and neither toothed nor lobed, while the leaf margins of of C. aspera are toothed (dentate) (Fig. 3). The inflorescence (panicle of flowers) of C. cyanomontana is more open than the more compacted inflorescence of C. aspera.

Fig. 3. Leaf morphology of the closely related Cineraria aspera. Photo: Reuben Heydenrych