Description: Perennial herbs or subshrubs, often silvery and/or hairy.
Leaves mainly in basal rosette, narrow, entire. Scapes solitary, bracteate.
Heads ± hemispherical; involucral bracts in several series, imbricate, herbaceous with dry or scarious margins; receptacle pitted, scales absent. Ray florets female, usually in one row and white. Disc florets tubular to funnelform, bisexual, 5-toothed, yellow. Anthers with acute or pointed auricles at the base, tails if present very short. Style branches flattened, with apical appendages.
Achenes slightly compressed, ridged; pappus of numerous unequal, barbellate bristles.
Distribution and occurrence: World: c. 70 species, Australia & New Zealand. Australia: 4–10 species (endemic), N.S.W., Vic., Tas.
Text by E. A. Brown
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Achenes glabrous;scapes up to 60 cm high | Celmisia longifolia |
| Achenes hairy; scapes less than 50 cm high | 2 |
| 2 | Tufted herb with thin spreading scaly rhizomes | Celmisia tomentella |
| Rootstock more or less woody, thin scaly rhizomes absent
Back to 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Short and more or less woolly tomentum on the leaf underside, the raised rib conspicuous | Celmisia costiniana |
| Long and woolly tomentum which fills the cavity of the underside of the leaf usually obscuring the raised midrib
Back to 2 | Celmisia pugioniformis |
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