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I have some gerbera daisies a little over 2 weeks old (since cut). One of them seem to be growing tinier flowers in the center. Could someone explain what this is, and why it is happening? I am curious.
The other daisies do not seem to have similar things growing in the center. If needed, I can attach pictures of those as well.
I think this is a pseudanthium where the flower head is comprised of hundreds of tiny flowers. This picture shows it better. The actual flowers are tiny, and are called florets, but the combined flower can be quite large as in sunflowers.
According to this site, it is a composite bloom, with a few different types of florets on the same flower.
The center ones are called Disk Florets, which are the ones you are asking about. They contain the male stamens for the flower.
The slightly larger petals are called the Trans Florets and the largest ones are called the Ray Florets.
It appears the area in the center without any petals can vary in size, with either more "blank" space or less. I assume more Disk Florets just started to grow in, filling up the empty space.
