Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs, sometimes stoloniferous. Leaves in basal rosettes and/or cauline and alternate, sessile, entire to bipinnatisect, glabrous, with glandular or fine, flattened or stiff, clear eglandular hairs. Capitula solitary, radiate, heterogamous; involucral bracts in 1 or 2 rows of about equal length or in 2 distinct rows of unequal length, mainly herbaceous but with scarious margins; receptacle convex to conical or globose; ray florets female, white, greenish-white, mauve, pink or yellow; disc florets bisexual, (4- or) 5-lobed, yellow; anthers with or without a terminal sterile appendage, not tailed; style branches widely deltoid to narrowly triangular in outline, c. 0.5–4 times the length of the stigmatic part. Cypselas homomorphic or dimorphic, terete, angular or flattened, with or without longitudinal ridges and/or wings, smooth to variously tuberculate, biseriate eglandular hairs and/or stalked glandular hairs sometimes present; pappus absent or a short crown of bristles or scale-like bristles. (Description based on Victorian species only.)

Currently 87 species, mostly Australian, a few native in New Guinea and New Zealand. Delimitation of the genus is problematic, with herbaceous species lacking a pappus or having only a short crown of bristles or bristle-like scales being included in Brachyscome without consideration of the considerable variation exhibited in habit, leaf shape and the morphology and anatomy of the cypselas and is almost certainly non-monophyletic. Consequently, segregate genera should be recognized.

To better indicate possible species relationships within Brachyscome s. lat. several species groups are described and their constituent Victorian taxa listed below.

Brachyscome aculeata group

Perennial, stoloniferous (or mostly so) herbs. Leaves basal and cauline, broad, lobed. Ligules white or bluish. Terminal anther appendages present. Cypselas homomorphic, thin; lateral faces without longitudinal ridges; eglandular hairs biseriate and straight to curved; margins wing-like.

Brachyscome aculeata, B. cuneifolia, B. riparia and B. spathulata.

Brachyscome basaltica group

Stoloniferous perennial or non-stoloniferous annual herbs. Leaves entire or rarely with several teeth. Terminal anther appendages present. Cypselas homomorphic, swollen or somewhat laterally compressed; lateral faces with or without longitudinal ridges; margins unwinged; pappus usually an entire ring.

Brachyscome paludicola.

Brachyscome ciliaris group

Annuals or non-stoloniferous perennials. Leaves basal and cauline, entire or 1- or 2-pinnatisect or -pinnatifid. Ligules white, pale greenish-white or mauve. Terminal anther appendages absent or barely developed. Cypselas homomorphic or dimorphic with ray cypselas mostly with broad margins and disc cypselas thin and with wing-like extensions; longitudinal ridges usually absent (not present in Victorian species); eglandular hairs usually apically inrolled short and sometimes curved.

Brachyscome ciliaris, B. parvula, B. perpusilla, B. rigidula and B. trachycarpa.

Brachyscome decipiens group

Scapose perennials. Leaves broad, entire or partly serrate. Bracts biseriate, unequal. Terminal anther appendages present. Cypselas homomorphic, smooth, flat; longitudinal ridges absent; margins not wing-like; eglandular hairs weak and shortly bifid.

Brachyscome decipiens.

Brachyscome dentata group

Annual or perennial, non-stoloniferous herbs. Leaves basal and cauline. Ligules yellow, at least in bud or at base, mature white rays often drying yellow. Terminal anther appendages present. Cypselas homomorphic or dimor

Pteridium