Osteospermum
Purple Osteospermum flower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteroideae Tribe: Calenduleae Genus: Osteospermum L.
Species
See text Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Plant (disambiguation). ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class of flowering plants. ... Families Alseuosmiaceae Argophyllaceae Asteraceae - Daisies Calyceraceae Campanulaceae (incl. ... Carl Linnaeus, Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 13, 1707[1] – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[2] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ...

Osteospermum is a genus belonging to the Calenduleae, one of the smaller tribes of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic classification in between family and genus. ... For other uses, see Sunflower (disambiguation). ... Diversity About 1500 genera and 23,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae...

Osteosperum used to belong to the genus Dimorphotheca, but only the annual species remain in that genus; the perennials belong to Osteospermum. The genus Osteospermum is also closely related to the small genus Chrysanthemoides, such as C. incana and C. monilifera. Peas are an annual plant. ... Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... Binomial name Chrysanthemoides monilifera (L.) Norlindh Chrysanthemoides monilifera is an evergreen flowering shrub in the Asteraceae family. ...

Botanical background

The scientific name is derived from the Greek osteon (= bone) and Latin spermum (= seed). It has been given several common names: African Daisy, South African Daisy, Cape Daisy and Blue-eyed Daisy. For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ...

There are about 50 species, native to Africa, 35 species in southern Africa, and southwestern Arabia. They are half-hardy perennials or subshrubs. Therefore they do not survive outdoor wintery conditions, but there is still a wide range of hardiness. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Arabia redirects here. ... Hardy may refer to: Hardy (blacksmithing) Hardiness (plants), the ability to survive adverse growing conditions Hardy (surname) The Hardy Boys, a detective series Hardy Boyz, a wrestling team composed of Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy The Hardy Wine Company, an Australian wine company Edgar Hardcastle Hardy Peninsula Hardy Heron, the... A subshrub (Latin suffrutex) is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody perennial plant, distinguished from a shrub by variously its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10-20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or only...

Their alternate (rarely opposite) leaves are green, but some beautiful variegated forms exist. The leaf form is lanceolate. The leaf margin is entire, but hardy types are toothed. Look up foliage in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The daisy-like flowers consists of disc florets and ray florets, growing solitary at the end of branches or sometimes in inflorescences of terminal corymbose cymes. The disc florets are pseudo-bisexual and come in several colors such as blue, yellow and purple. The hardy types usually show a dark blue center in the disc until the yellow pollen is shed. The ray florets are female and are found diverse colors such as white, cream, pink, purple, mauve to yellow. Some cultivars have "spooned" petals such as "Pink Whirls". Many species flower a second time late summer, stimulated by the cooler night temperatures. Hardy types show profuse flowering in the spring, but they do not get a second flush of flowers. For other uses, see Flower (disambiguation). ... This Osteospermum Pink Whirls is a successful cultivar. ...

Most widely sold cultivars are grown as annuals and are mainly hybrids of O. jucundum, O. ecklonis and O. grandiflorum and can be hardy to -2°C (30°F). If hardy, they can be grown as perennials or as shrubs.

Culture

Plants prefer a warm and sunny position and rich soil, although they tolerate poor soil, salt or drought well. Modern cultivars flower continuously when watered and fertilised well, and dead-heading is not necessary, because they do not set seed easily. If planted in a container, soil should be prevented from drying out completely. If they do, the plants will go into "sleep mode" and survive the period of drought, but they will abort their flower buds and not easily come back into flower. Moreover, roots are relatively susceptible to rotting if watered too profusely after the dry period.

Species

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2008)

• Osteospermum acanthospermum
• Osteospermum amplectens
• Osteospermum attenuatum
• Osteospermum australe
• Osteospermum barberae
• Osteospermum burttianum
• Osteospermum calendulaceum L. f. : Stinking Roger (synonym of Oligocarpus calendulaceus)
• Osteospermum caulescens
• Osteospermum clandestinum (synonym of Tripteris clandestina)
• Osteospermum dentatum
• Osteospermum ecklonis (DC.) Norl. : Cape Marguerite, Blue-and-white Daisybush
• Osteospermum fruticosum (L.) Norl. : Trailing African Daisy, Shrubby Daisybush
• Osteospermum grandidentatum : Yellow Trailing Daisy
• Osteospermum grandiflorum
• Osteospermum hyoseroides
• Osteospermum imbricatum
• Osteospermum jucundum (Phill.) T. Norl. : South African Daisy
• Osteospermum microphyllum
• Osteospermum monocephalum (Oliv. & Hiern) Norl.
• Osteospermum muricatum
• Osteospermum oppositifolium (synonym of Tripteris oppositifolia)
• Osteospermum pinnatum
• Osteospermum polygaloides
• Osteospermum potbergense AR Wood & B. Nord
• Osteospermum rigidum
• Osteospermum rotundifolium
• Osteospermum sinuatum (DC.) Norl. (synonym of Tripteris sinuata)
• Osteospermum spinescens
• Osteospermum subulatum DC.
• Osteospermum tomentosum
• Osteospermum triquetrum L. f.

A phylogenetic study has revealed that several changes had to be made to this genus: Phylogenetic groups, or taxa, can be monophyletic, paraphyletic, or polyphyletic. ...

• Osteospermum section Blaxium belongs in the genus Dimorphotheca
• the subgenus Tripteris had to be separated from Osteospermum
• the genus Oligocarpus has to be separated from Osteospermum
• Osteospermum sanctae-helenae, endemic to St. Helena, belongs to Oligocarpus.

New species are still being discovered, such as O. australe, O. burttianum and O. potbergense.

Osteospermum flowers are popular in the nursery trade. Propagation is mainly carried out by cuttings. Numerous hybrids and cultivars have been grown with a wide range of tropical colors. Yellow cultivars tend to have a yellow center (sometimes off-white). A nursery is a place where plants are propagated, usually for sale as a business, though some gardeners and farmers keep private nurseries. ... This article is about economic exchange. ... Plant cuttings are a technique for vegetatively (asexually) propagating plants in which a piece of the source plant containing at least one stem cell is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil, potting mix, coir or rock wool. ... This article is about a biological term. ...

One of the most popular cultivars is Osteospermum "Pink Whirls", which features purple to lavender-blue "spooned" petals around a blue disk. It is an evergreen subshrub with green, somewhat glossy, lanceolate opposite leaves. It grows to a height of 40 cm. At night or when it is getting colder, the petals close. This article is about plant types. ...

Other cultivars include : Osteospermum "Acapulco", O. "African Queen", O. "Apricot", O. "Biera", O. "Big Pink", O. "Bodegas Pink", O. "Buttermilk", O."Chris Brickell", O. "Duet", O."Giles Gilbey", O. "Hopleys", O. "Ice White", O. "Marbella", O. "Nairobi Purple", O. "Passion Mix", O. "Pink", O. "Pink Beauty", O. "Silver Sparkler", O. "Soprano", O. "Starshine", O."Springstar Gemma", O. "Sunkist", O. "White Whirls" and O."Whirlygig".

Image gallery

"Passion Mix" cultivar	Osteospermum×Dimorphotheca "Lemon Symphony" (an annual cultivar) This Osteospermum Pink Whirls is a successful cultivar. ...	Osteospermum 'Sunadora Hotspots Marbella', a modern hybrid	Osteospermum 'Sunadora Hotspots Acapulco', another modern hybrid
Osteospermum "Pink Whirls", a cultivar Daisy1. ...	Pink Whirls"—close-up	White Spoon Osteospermum

References

• Nordenstam, B., and Bremer, Kare (editor). "Tribe Calenduleae" in: Asteraceae: Cladistics and Classification. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, 1994. ISBN 0-88192-275-7. Pp. 365–376.

External links

• A phylogenetic study of the Calenduleae - Bertil Nordenstam & Ida Trift
• Osteospermum.com - a website with lots of information and photographs
• Sunadora Osteospermums

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Osteospermum