Could be Calotis lappulacea. It is an annual and grows in open areas usually flowers around about July. Hope this helps.

Calotis lappulacea has flowerheads with very small, insignificant ray florets. This is definitely a Senecio, probably a member of the S. lautus complex.

looks like the dreaded Fireweed a member of the Asteraceae family

It is poison to animals, somehow affects the liver in cattle.
and is a real problem in many pastures.

Marion

Tony, I have no botanical training but am keen to learn.The calotis id was from a photo in Keith Williams book Native Plants-Queensland v.2 p70 which is visually very similar and occurs in the same area of the state as the plant to be id'd. Are there any native Senecios? Can you explain the difference between Senecios and Calotis in simple terms? Are ray florets "petals" or are they the minute edge to the real daisy flower? These differences are no doubt very obvious to the trained expert but not so to this layman and I would like to learn all I can from this forum.

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:

Thanks for that Tony. I will do some more research.