''Felicia cymbalariae'', is a hairy

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

of up to 30 cm (12 in) high in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

. It has creeping branches that bend upwards, stalked leaves of up to 6 × 4½ cm (2.4 × 1.8 in) with few teeth or nearly entire. The flower heads are set individually on top of up to 8 cm (3 in) long stalks and contain about sixteen white ray florets of about 6 × 1½ mm around a center with many yellow or dark wine red disc florets. It can be found in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province of South Africa. Flower heads can be found between September and June.

Description

''Felicia cymbalariae'' is a

of up to 30 cm (12 in) high, with green, creeping branches that bend upwards. The branches are set with stiff hairs standing out, and most leaves are oppositely set, but the highest may be alternate. The leaves are

stalked Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

. The leaf blade is broadly egg-shaped to slightly heart-shaped, up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and 4½ cm (1.8 in) wide, the margin with few strong, coarse

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

, or pointy lobes. It has netted veins. The surface is variably densely set with long, somewhat glandular hairs, particularly near the base. The

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

are set individually on the top of up to 8 cm (3 in) long stalks. The heads contain both female

ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

and bisexual and male

disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s (so-called heterogamous capitula). At the base of the head, surrounding and protecting the florets before opening, are three unclear whorls of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

-like bracts or scales (or phyllaries) that together make up the involucre, which is narrowly egg-shaped, about 7 mm (0.28 in) wide. The phyllaries are unequal in size. The outer whorl consists of few phyllaries of about 2½ mm (0.1 in) wide and ½ mm (0.02 in) wide, while the inner phyllaries are in two whorls, about 4½ mm (0.18 in) long and ½–1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) wide, with rough glandular hairs or hairless, with papery margins. Each head consists of approximately sixteen white, female ray florets encircling many yellow,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

disc florets. These ray florets are about 6 mm (¼ in) long and 1½ mm (0.06 in) wide, with glandular hears on the tube shaped base. The disc florets are about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and also have a glandular tube. Within the ray florets are five anthers merged into a tube through which the style grows while gathering the pollen on its shaft. Each

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

is topped by a triangular extension. The pappus consists of many white bristles of about 3 mm (0.12 in) long standing out at an angle and set with protruding teeth from the base to the top. The dry, one-seeded, indehiscent fruits called cypselae are narrowly inverted egg-shaped in outline, about 2½ mm (0.1 in) and 1 mm (0.04 in) wide are dark brown in colour with two light ribs along the edge, are set with broad, very short hairs of 0.1 mm (0.004 in) long, and the surface without further sculpture or few scales.

Differences between the subspecies

The typical subspecies has leaves of about 6 x 4½ cm with few strong teeth, and yellow disc florets. Subspecies ''ionops'' has leaves of 2½ cm long with weak teeth, and disc florets that are dark wine red in the upper parts.

Taxonomy

The first name that was given to what probably is this species, is ''Aster oppositifolius'', in volume 6 of the

Amoenitates Academicae Amoenitates Academicae is the title of a multi-volume zoological and botanical publication (published during 1749–1790) consisting of the dissertations of the students of Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778 ...

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1763; but it lacks a description, rendering it

invalid Invalid may refer to: * Patient, a sick person * one who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury (sometimes considered a politically incorrect term) * .invalid, a top-level Internet domain not intended for real use As t ...

. This name was later associated with '' Felicia amelloides''. It was first described by

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...

in his

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

of 1789 and he named it ''Aster cymbalariae''.

Nees von Esenbeck Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He des ...

reassigned it in 1833, calling it ''Munichia cymbalariae''.

Étienne Pierre Ventenat Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794). While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, V ...

described ''Cineraria hirsuta'' in 1803, and this was reassigned in 1836 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle as ''Munichia hirsuta'', and in 1865 by William Henry Harvey as ''Aster hirsutus'', who also recognised ''A. cymbalariae'' with vars. ''cymbalariae'' and ''ionops''. In 1822,

Henri Cassini Count Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini (9 May 1781 – 23 April 1832) was a French botanist and natural history, naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) (then known as family Compositae). He was the youngest of five chi ...

described ''Felicia brachyglossa'', which was reassigned by himself in 1825, creating the name ''Munychia brachyglossa''. In 1836, De Candole had distinguished ''Munichia cymbalariae β microcephala''.

Harry Bolus Harry Bolus (28 April 1834 – 25 May 1911) was a South African botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist. He advanced botany in South Africa by establishing bursaries, founding the Bolus Herbarium and bequeathing his library and ...

and

Anthony Hurt Wolley-Dod Anthony Hurt Wolley-Dod (17 November 1861 in Eton College, Buckinghamshire – 21 June 1948 in Mayfield Sussex) was a British soldier and botanist. The fourth son of the Rev. Charles Wolley-Dod, of Edge Hall, Cheshire, an assistant master at ...

made the correct combination ''Felica cymbalariae'' in 1950. In 1973, Jürke Grau considered these names synonymous, agreed with Harvey's variety, but raised it to subspecies level, and so created ''Felicia cymbalariae'' subsp. ''ionops''. The species is considered to be part of the section Neodetris.

Distribution

The subspecies ''ionops'' occurs with some overlap, generally more easterly, between the mountains around Clanwilliam in the north, via

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

to Jonkershoek in the southeast and the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

in the southwest, with the Piketberg the northwestern corner of its distribution. The subspecies ''ionops'' occurs with some overlap, generally more easterly, between Clanwilliam in the north to Caledon in the south.

Conservation

Both subspecies of ''Felicia cymbalariae'' have a stable population and their continued survival is considered to be of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

External links

Photos on iNaturalist

line drawing subsp. ''cymbalariae''

line drawing subsp. ''ionops''
{{Taxonbar, from= Q15598021 cymbalariae Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Plants described in 1789