Buchan weed

Cotyledons: Two. Heart shaped. Tip indented. Edges smooth. Base tapered. Petiole about as long as the blade.

First leaves: Oval, edges irregularly toothed and lobed. Sometimes purple near the base or with purple veins. Short petiole. Hairy.

Leaves:
Grey-green with indented veins. Forms a rosette.
Petiole - Long on lower leaves, shorter to almost absent on uppermost leaves.
Blade - Whitish or mealy, dense stiff hairs pressed close to the leaf surface. Lower leaves are deeply lobed with coarse rounded teeth. The end lobe is larger than the others and egg shaped. Lower leaves up to 200 mm long.
Stem leaves - Oval, with short teeth on the edges. Almost hairless. Uppermost leaves have no petiole and clasp the stem.

Stems: Flowering stems - Grey-green, erect, single or with spreading branches, stout, 300-1500 mm tall. The lower half is covered with stiff white downward pointing hairs.

Flower head: Panicle about 300 mm long, at the ends of branches in small groups held higher than the top leaves. New flowers open as old ones wither and form pods leaving a string from ripening pods at the bottom to flower buds at the top.

Flowers:
Pale yellow, 12-16 mm diameter, on a short thick stalk.
Sepals - Erect, above the buds that lengthen to form the pod.
Petals - 4, yellow, often with purple veins, 6-8 mm long.