I've sent the picture to a bunch of plant experts. Do you have the nursery name where you purchased it? Perhaps the owner would know more than the clerk. Where in Florida, if I may ask. The people to whom I've sent the photos are well known experts and curators at arboreta. Some work in Florida.

Hi, I can't see your pics. Do you have them set correctly for the public to view them? Remy

Plantsplus, will get back to you later about this, as I need to sleep now and am off early tomorrow to spend weekend away. For the meanwhile, have a look at the Calotis lappulacea pic linked below; note the very small ray florets around the edge, and the spiny 'seeds' (techically the fruits) developing. Prickly fruits, or burrs, are a feature of all Calotis spp. Many have larger and more colourful ray florets than C. lappulacea, resembling Brachycomes. Compare this with a typical Senecio - I suspect you have one close by in the form of the 'dreaded fireweed' of cow paddocks, S. madagascariensis, with yellow daisy flowers on a branched plant about a foot high. It has very similar flowerheads to the native S. lautus, but the latter has more dissected leaves. The article on Asteraceae in Wikipedia has some useful stuff on the technicalities of their flowerhead construction, though it's rather limited. Here is a link that might be useful:

I didn't install the irrigation myself, but it's definitely not spaghetti tube. More like the 1/2" tube (might even be 1"), with holes in it (is that what built in emitters are?). All of what I'm learning here is why I'm really glad I'm taking this into my own hands now, instead of relying on others who may not have had the best approach... There are three lines about 1/2 foot apart that runs through the area where all the plants are in. The more I'm learning, the more I realize I must have been drowning the poor things. :( Are you recommending I cut it back now, in order to preserve the plant? Despite all three of them being quite infected looking at their bases, they are still flowering, and their upper portions don't look so bad. I'd be sad to cut them off now and miss more blooms, but if it's what's best for the plant then I will. As far as cutting back to the ground, is that literally exactly what I would do? Or leave a few inches of the plant left? The details are really helpful for me. Thanks for the tip about watering the pomegranate! I'm very new to gardening and really appreciate all the helpful advice everyone!