Cymbonotus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plants in the daisy family

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 from southern Australia. Three species are recognised. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is C. lawsonianus

Cymbonotus lawsonianus

Cymbonotus lawsonianus, commonly known as bear's ears, is a species of small shrub in the daisy family from southeastern Australia. It has been described as Arctotis lawsoniana. It is one of three species in the small genus Cymbonotus...

of eastern Australia, commonly known as bear's ears.

Molecular studies of African genera and C. lawsonianus showed the genus to be very closely related to the genera Arctotis

Arctotis

Arctotis is a genus of about 40-50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa, from South Africa north to Angola. Some of the plants are alternatively placed in the genus Venidium. Many are called by the common name "African daisy", or "Gousblom" in Afrikaans...

and Haplocarpha

Haplocarpha

Haplocarpha is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family....

, suggesting they must have been dispersed across the Indian Ocean to Australia somehow.