Euryops lateriflorus floral stages

The blue-green, nearly globose buds of Euryops lateriflorus display coverings of narrow, tapering involucral bracts grown in a single row around the developing florets. They open at the top when the florets lengthen inside, pushing the acutely pointed bract tips apart. The flowerheads have long, pale green peduncles.

Flowerheads at the same stem-tip as seen here can be in different stages of development. The height of the leaf axil on the stem relates more or less to the age of the flowerhead it supports. The heads emerge from a number of different axils near the stem-tip.

The specific name, lateriflorus, is derived from the Latin words lateralis meaning side or lateral and flos or floris meaning flower, literally meaning "flowers on the side", referring to the flowers borne on the sides of the stems (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).