Cineraria platycarpa is a multistemmed annual reaching 20 cm to 50 cm in height. The plant that mainly branches near the base may be slightly woody in its lower stem and become a short-lived perennial.

The species distribution is in the Western Cape from the Bokkeveld Mountains through the Little Karoo to Uniondale and slightly into the Eastern Cape. The photo was taken near Barrydale in the Little Karoo.

The plants grow on flats and lower slopes in sandy and loamy soils, often in disturbed areas; sometimes among renosterbos but not in fynbos. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).