''Dimorphotheca ecklonis'', also known as Cape Marguerite, African daisy, Van Staden's River daisy, Sundays River daisy, white daisy bush, blue-and-white daisy bush, star of the veldt, ''Kaapse magriet'', ''jakkalsbos'', ''Vanstadensrivier madeliefie'', or ''Sondagsrivier madeliefie'' is a perennial

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

that is native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It features white ray florets and a dark blue centre and is part of the

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

family. The species is named after

Christian Friedrich Ecklon Christian Friedrich Ecklon (17 December 1795 – 1 December 1868) was a Denmark, Danish botany, botanical collector and apothecary. Ecklon is especially known for being an avid collector and researcher of plants in South Africa. Biography Ecklon ...

, a Danish botanical collector who explored the flora of the Cape in the early 1800s. It is regarded as an invasive plant in parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, particularly Victoria and Western Australia.

Features

''Dimorphotheca ecklonis'' is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

dwarf

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

that can grow up to tall. The flowerheads measure up to in diameter. The leaves measure and are glandular fluffy,

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

, elliptical, slightly

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

, narrow

obovate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets) ...

, and entire or serrated. The heads are on long stems and have a diameter of . The

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also loo ...

are long and glandular. The rays are white above and reddish blue below. The disc is dark blue or purple. The fruit surface is net-wrinkled. The plant contains

hydrocyanic acid Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an industrial s ...

, making it poisonous to livestock, such as cattle, and pets, such as rabbits and rodents. The plant is a useful

model organism A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mo ...

for experiments because of traits such as the ability to grow quickly and all year round. It can also be used as a UV indicator because it is

phototropic In biology, phototropism is the growth of an organism in response to a light stimulus. Phototropism is most often observed in plants, but can also occur in other organisms such as fungi. The cells on the plant that are farthest from the ligh ...

and sensitive to radiation.

Distribution

When found naturally the plants can be seen growing at the base of cliffs or on steep hills. It is native to a small area in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

, South Africa, around

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

and

Humansdorp Humansdorp is a town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, with a population of around 29,000 as of the 2011 Census. It is part of the Kouga Local Municipality of the Sarah Baartman District. History The town is the centre of the district's l ...

and is found on wet grass and in

river bed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a channel or the banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports different types of aquatic vegeta ...

s at altitudes up to . It prefers subtropic biomes but has been introduced into the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. It has become popular in Europe in places such as

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, Italy.

Cultivation and Propagation

''Dimorphotheca ecklonis'' can be grown as a

but based on the temperature swings of the local climate it can be grown as an

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. Globally, 6% of all plant species and 15% of herbaceous plants (excluding trees and shrubs) are ...

. The peak flowering period is in spring, although some flowers will last through summer. The plants grow fast and thrive best in full sun, in poor to moderately fertile, well-drained, sandy soil. It is widely used as an

in pots and beddings. In places, such as

, where it has become invasive the white coloured flowers grow as

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the ...

plants. New plants can be cultivated from seeds or cuttings. The plants should be propagated by seed in spring at cooler temperatures (18°C). It is recommended that the seeds, which germinate easily, are planted from one another. For propagation via cuttings, softwood cuttings should be taken in late spring and semi-ripe cuttings should be taken in late summer.

References

Bibliography

External links

''Dimorphotheca ecklonis'' entry at SA National Biodiversity Institute's PlantZAfrica.com

''Recent Incursions of Weeds Into Australia 1971–1995''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15629400 ecklonis Flora of South Africa