The family Asteraceae, with the original name 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 were first described in the year 1740. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger family is unclear as the quantity of extant species in each family is unknown.
Felicia aethiopica is a low shrublet of up to about 50 cm high that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has rigid, leathery, inverted egg-shaped leaves, with only the lowest pair set oppositely. It has flower heads with an involucre of about 8 mm in diameter with bracts that each contain three resin ducts, and have one whorl of twelve to fourteen ray florets with about 11 mm long and 1½ mm wide blue straps surrounding many yellow disc florets. The plant is called wild aster or dwarf Felicia in English, and wilde-aster or bloublombossie in Afrikaans. Flowering occurs year-round. Wild aster can be found in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
Chloracantha is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family, containing the single species Chloracantha spinosa. It is distributed in the southwestern and south-central United States, most of Mexico, and much of Central America. Its English language common names include spiny chloracantha, spiny aster, devilweed aster, and Mexican devilweed. In Spanish it is known as espina de agua, espinaza, and espinosilla.
Polyarrhena is a genus of low, branching shrublets that is assigned to the daisy family. Its stems are alternately and densely set with entire or somewhat toothed leaves. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, and which are surrounded by an involucre of in this case three whorls of bracts. In Polyarrhena, the centre of the head is taken by yellow disc florets, and is surrounded by one single whorl of white ligulate florets that have a pinkish-purple wash on the underside. These florets sit on a common base and are not individually subtended by a bract. The species occur in the Cape Floristic Region. Polyarrhena reflexa has long been cultivated as an ornamental and is often known under its synonym Aster reflexum.
Phaneroglossa is a genus of plants that is assigned to the daisy family. It consists of only one species, Phaneroglossa bolusii, a perennial plant of up to 40 cm high, that has leathery, line- to lance-shaped, seated leaves with mostly few shallow teeth and flower heads set individually on top of long stalks. The flower head has an involucre of just one whorl of bracts, few elliptic, white or cream ray florets, and many yellow disc florets. It is an endemic species of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Flowering mainly occurs from November to January.
Gorteria is a genus of small annual herbaceous plants or shrubs, with 8 known species, that is assigned to the daisy family. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, and are surrounded by an involucre, consisting of in this case several whorls of bracts, which are merged at their base. In Gorteria, the centre of the head is taken by relatively few bisexual and sometimes also male, yellow to orange disc florets, and is surrounded by one complete whorl of 5–14 infertile cream to dark orange ray florets, sometimes with a few ray florets nearer to the centre. None, some or all of them may have darker spots at their base. The fruits remain attached to their common base when ripe, and it is the entire head that breaks free from the plant. One or few seeds germinate inside the flower head which can be found at the foot of plants during their first year. The species flower between August and October, except for G. warmbadica that blooms mostly in May and June. The species of the genus Gorteria can be found in Namibia and South Africa.
Hymenonema is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae endemic to Greece. On each of the single or few stems, the species have one to three flowerheads consisting of yellow or yolk yellow ligulate florets, scaly pappus, greyish, pinnately segmented leaves in a basal rosette, and few smaller leaves on the 20–70 cm high stems. It contains two species: Hymenonema graecum, that is known from the Cyclades, and Hymenonema laconicum, which occurs in the central and south-eastern Peloponnesos.
Mairia is a genus of perennial herbaceous plants assigned to the family Asteraceae. All species have leathery, entire or toothed leaves in rosettes, directly from the underground rootstock, and one or few flower heads sit at the top of the stems that carry few bracts. These have a whorl of white to mauve ray florets surrounding yellow disc florets in the centre. In general, flowering only occurs after the vegetation has burned down. The six species currently assigned to Mairia are endemic to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Some of the species are called fire daisy in English and vuuraster in Afrikaans.
Berkheya is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is distributed in tropical Africa, especially in southern regions. Of about 75 species, 71 can be found in South Africa.
Corymbium is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family comprising nine species. It is the only genus in the subfamily Corymbioideae and the tribe Corymbieae. The species have leaves with parallel veins, strongly reminiscent of monocots, in a rosette and compounded inflorescences may be compact or loosely composed racemes, panicles or corymbs. Remarkable for species in the daisy family, each flower head contains just one, bisexual, mauve, pink or white disc floret within a sheath consisting of just two large involucral bracts. The species are all endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, where they are known as plampers.
Pallenis spinosa, commonly known as spiny starwort or spiny golden star, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Pallenis of the family Asteraceae. The Latin name of the genus is derived from palea (chaff), referring to the chaffy receptacle, while the species name spinosa, meaning spiny, refers to the spiny bracts surrounding the flowers.
The Stifftioideae are a subfamily of the family Asteraceae family of flowering plants. It comprises a single tribe, Stifftieae, of ten genera.
Didelta spinosa, belonging to the family of Asteraceae, is a Southern African woody shrub or small tree endemic to the West Coast and found from Saldanha Bay in the south across the Gariep into the south-west corner of Namibia. Growing 2–3 m tall and drought-resistant, its preferred habitat is on dry, rocky slopes. This species was introduced to Europe by Thunberg and Masson.
Gorteria diffusa is a highly variable, small annual herbaceous plant or rarely a shrublet that is assigned to the daisy family. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, and are surrounded by an involucre, consisting of in this case several whorls of bracts, which are merged at their base. In G. diffusa, the centre of the head is taken by relatively few male and bisexual yellow to orange disc florets, and is surrounded by one complete whorl of 5–14 infertile cream to dark orange ray florets, sometimes with a few ray florets nearer to the centre. None, some or all of them may have darker spots at their base. The fruits remain attached to their common base when ripe, and it is the entire head that breaks free from the plant. One or few seeds germinate inside the flower head which can be found at the foot of plants during their first year. The species flowers between August and October. It is called beetle daisy in English and katoog in Afrikaans. It can be found in Namibia and South Africa.
Felicia echinata, commonly known as the dune daisy or prickly felicia, is a species of shrub native to South Africa belonging to the daisy family. It grows to 1 m (3.3 ft) high and bears blue-purple flower heads with yellow central discs. In the wild, it flowers April to October.
Felicia nordenstamii is a flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae. It is found only in South Africa where it grows on limestone hills close to the sea on the southern coast. Felicia nordenstamii is a many-branched shrub growing up to 30 cm (1 ft) tall. The lower parts of the stems are covered in grayish brown bark and the upper stem has many crowded, upwardly angled, alternate leaves with long hairs on the lower surfaces. Large flower heads form at the tips of the branches, each about 41⁄2 cm across, with about thirty purplish blue ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets.
Mairia petiolata is a tufted, variably hairy, perennial plant of up to 15 cm (6 in) assigned to the family Asteraceae. Its leaves are in a ground rosette, and have a stalk of mostly 2–5 cm long and an inverted egg-shaped to elliptic, 61⁄2–9 cm (2.6–4.6 in) long and 2–3 cm wide leaf blade, with a toothed margin. It mostly has two flower heads at the tip of the branches of each erect, dark reddish brown scape. The flower heads have a bell- to cup-shaped involucre that consists of 20–24, purplish, overlapping bracts in 3–4 whorls. These protect 12–16 pink, ray florets, surrounding many yellow disc florets. This species was only seen flowering once, in December. It is known from one location in the Langeberg, Western Cape province of South Africa.
Felicia clavipilosa is an upright, richly branched shrub of up to 60 cm (2 ft) high, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has alternately arranged leaves, and flower heads with 3–4 whorls of involucral bracts with many yellow disc florets in the centre. Very characteristic for the species are the short club-shaped hairs on its fruits. There are two subspecies. Subsp. clavipilosa has narrowly lance-shaped entire leaves with one vein and pale mauve ray florets. Subspecies transvaalensis has lance-shaped leaves with one or three veins and white ray florets. The species occurs in southern Africa, with subsp. clavipilosa having a western distribution in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, and subsp. transvaalensis restricted to the east, from Zimbabwe, through Botswana to South Africa. The subspecies transvaalensis is sometimes called pokkiesblom in Afrikaans.
Felicia tenella is an annual, sometimes biennial, herbaceous plant that may be slightly woody at its base, of 5–70 cm tall, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. The species is very variable in size and hairiness. Its branches may be erect or ascending, and the leaves are narrowly line-shaped, 2–5 cm long and about 1 mm (0.04 in) wide. The leaves have a callous tip, lack visible nerves, and are mostly rigidly ciliate. The flower heads sit individually at the tip of stalks, have an involucre of three whorls of bracts, and about thirty light blue ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets. Four subspecies are recognised. The species naturally occurs in the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa.
Felicia is a genus of small shrubs, perennial or annual herbaceous plants, with 85 known species, that is assigned to the daisy family. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, and which are surrounded by an involucre of, in this case between two and four whorls of, bracts. In Felicia, the centre of the head is taken by yellow, seldom whitish or blackish blue disc florets, and is almost always surrounded by one single whorl of mostly purple, sometimes blue, pink, white or yellow ligulate florets and rarely ligulate florets are absent. These florets sit on a common base and are not individually subtended by a bract. Most species occur in the Cape Floristic Region, which is most probably the area where the genus originates and had most of its development. Some species can be found in the eastern half of Africa up to Sudan and the south-western Arabian peninsula, while on the west coast species can be found from the Cape to Angola and one species having outposts on the Cameroon-Nigeria border and central Nigeria. Some species of Felicia are cultivated as ornamentals and several hybrids have been developed for that purpose.
