Botanical name: Bracteantha bracteata
Paper daisy or strawflower is an upright, warm-weather annual or short lived perennial with daisy-like flowerheads in yellow, pink, bronze, cream, purple or white. Strawflower has thin, lance shaped, grayish green leaves up to 5 in long, and sandpapery, hollow, branching stems that may reach 3-4 ft in height. From late spring until fall, strawflower bears flowerheads about 2 in across singly or in few-flowered clusters on the ends of the branches. What look like ray flowers or petals are actually bracts (modified leaves) surrounding the central corolla. The bracts are papery with a straw-like, crackly texture, hence the common name. The corolla is like the disc of more typical daisies, composed of many tiny florets. I took this photograph on 19th May 2010, while on a family trip to Ooty.
