Gerbera aurantiaca

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Gerbera aurantiaca
Hilton Daisy.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Gerbera
Species:
G. aurantiaca
Binomial name
Gerbera aurantiaca
Sch.Bip.

Gerbera aurantiaca, the Hilton daisy, is a long-lived KwaZulu-Natal mistbelt grassland endemic and is a charismatic species because of its spectacular red flowers. [1]

Contents

Description

The Hilton daisy is a relative of the common Barberton daisy. While the typical colour of the Hilton daisies is red, the flowers range from yellow through orange to bright red and deep scarlet. The Hilton daisy is an endangered species and only 15 viable populations of the species are known to exist. [2]

History

The Hilton daisy was first discovered by Christian Ferdinand Krauss during his visit to Natal in 1839. [3] They were first described by botanist Schulz Bipontinus in 1844 and named for the brilliant orange colour of the specimen sent over to Europe. [3] The Hilton daisy is named after Hilton College and the nearby village of Hilton, [4] and has an emotive association with both the college and the village.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asteraceae</span> Large family of flowering plants

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.

<i>Pilosella aurantiaca</i> Species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Pilosella aurantiaca is a perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is native to alpine regions of central and southern Europe, where it is protected in several regions.

<i>Hieracium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hieracium , known by the common name hawkweed and classically as hierakion, is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (Taraxacum), chicory (Cichorium), prickly lettuce (Lactuca) and sow thistle (Sonchus), which are part of the tribe Cichorieae. Hawkweeds, with their 10,000+ recorded species and subspecies, do their part to make Asteraceae the second largest family of flowering plants. Some botanists group all these species or subspecies into approximately 800 accepted species, while others prefer to accept several thousand species. Since most hawkweeds reproduce exclusively asexually by means of seeds that are genetically identical to their mother plant, clones or populations that consist of genetically identical plants are formed and some botanists prefer to accept these clones as good species whereas others try to group them into a few hundred more broadly defined species. What is here treated as the single genus Hieracium is now treated by most European experts as two different genera, Hieracium and Pilosella, with species such as Hieracium pilosella, Hieracium floribundum and Hieracium aurantiacum referred to the latter genus. Many members of the genus Pilosella reproduce both by stolons and by seeds, whereas true Hieracium species reproduce only by seeds. In Pilosella, many individual plants are capable of forming both normal sexual and asexual (apomictic) seeds, whereas individual plants of Hieracium only produce one kind of seeds. Another difference is that all species of Pilosella have leaves with smooth (entire) margins whereas most species of Hieracium have distinctly dentate to deeply cut or divided leaves.

A dry roadside dotted with small, ¾ inch red orange flowers, interspersed with very similar yellow ones, and often the white of daisies, is a good sign that you are in Hawkweed country.

<i>Rudbeckia hirta</i> Species of flowering plant

Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as in China. It has now been found in all 10 Canadian Provinces and all 48 of the states in the contiguous United States.

<i>Bellis perennis</i> Flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae

Bellis perennis, the daisy, is a European species of the family Asteraceae, often considered the archetypal species of the name daisy. To distinguish this species from other plants known as daisies, it is sometimes qualified or known as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy.

<i>Gerbera</i> Genus of plants

Gerbera L. is a genus of plants in the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. The first scientific description of a Gerbera was made by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889 when he described Gerbera jamesonii, a South African species also known as Transvaal daisy or Barberton daisy. Gerbera is also commonly known as the African daisy.

<i>Gerbera jamesonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Gerbera jamesonii is a species of flowering plant in the genus Gerbera belonging to the basal Mutisieae tribe within the large Asteraceae family. It is indigenous to South Eastern Africa and commonly known as the Barberton daisy, the Transvaal daisy, and as Barbertonse madeliefie or Rooigousblom in Afrikaans. It was the first species of Gerbera to be the subject of a scientific description, studied by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilton College (South Africa)</span> All-boys private school in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Hilton College, more commonly referred to as Hilton, is a South African private boarding school for boys located near the town of Hilton in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and is situated on a 1,762 ha estate that includes a 550 ha wildlife reserve and the 150 ha school campus

<i>Xerochrysum bracteatum</i> Flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia

Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia. Described by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803, it was known as Helichrysum bracteatum for many years before being transferred to a new genus Xerochrysum in 1990. It is an annual up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall with green or grey leafy foliage. Golden yellow or white flower heads are produced from spring to autumn; their distinctive feature is the papery bracts that resemble petals. The species is widespread, growing in a variety of habitats across the country, from rainforest margins to deserts and subalpine areas. The golden everlasting serves as food for various larvae of lepidopterans, and adult butterflies, hoverflies, native bees, small beetles, and grasshoppers visit the flower heads.

<i>Gazania</i> Genus of flowering plants

Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Southern Africa.

<i>Dimorphotheca sinuata</i> Species of flowering plant

Dimorphotheca sinuata, the glandular Cape marigold, Namaqualand daisy, or orange Namaqualand daisy; syn. Dimorphotheca aurantiaca hort.) is a species of plant native to southern Africa. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental and naturalized in parts of the United States, primarily California and Arizona.

<i>Sandersonia</i> Genus of plants

Sandersonia is a monotypic genus of rhizomatous plant, belonging to the family Colchicaceae, the single species Sandersonia aurantiaca being native to South Africa and Eswatini (Swaziland). Common names for S. aurantiaca include Christmas bells, golden lily of the valley, Chinese lantern lily and Chinese lantern bulb. S. aurantiaca is a perennial plant of trailing growth that can reach 30 inches in height. The flowers are yellow or orange.

<i>Agoseris aurantiaca</i> Species of flowering plant

Agoseris aurantiaca is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae, commonly called orange agoseris or mountain dandelion. It is widespread in western North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angulate tortoise</span> Species of tortoise

The angulate tortoise is a species of tortoise found in dry areas and coastal scrub vegetation in South Africa. This tortoise is the only known member of the genus Chersina.

<i>Amorphophallus titanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae

Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The inflorescence of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, is larger, but it is branched rather than unbranched. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

<i>Matucana aurantiaca</i> Species of plant

Matucana aurantiaca is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae. It grows in the Cajamarca and La Libertad regions of Peru. It is considered to have a stable population and a wide range with no threats.

<i>Gynura aurantiaca</i> Species of flowering plant

Gynura aurantiaca, called purple passion or velvet plant, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is native to Southeast Asia but grown in many other places as a house plant. In warm regions, it is frequently grown outdoors on patios and in gardens rather than inside buildings, and hence it has escaped into the wild in Africa, Australia, South America, Mesoamerica, Florida, and a few other places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden marguerite</span>

Garden marguerites, also known as marguerite daisies, are cultivars of plants in the subtribe Glebionidinae of the family Asteraceae, the great majority being hybrids created in cultivation. One of the genera belonging to the subtribe, Argyranthemum, was introduced into cultivation from the Canary Islands in the 18th century, and modern cultivars are mostly sold and grown under the genus name Argyranthemum or the species name Argyranthemum frutescens, although many are actually intergeneric hybrids. The first such hybrids involved species now placed in the genus Glebionis, but other crosses within the subtribe are known. Breeding has aimed at introducing flower heads in varied colours and shapes while retaining the shrubby habit of Argyranthemum. Garden marguerites are used as summer bedding or grown in containers. Most are only half-hardy. They can be trained into shapes such as pyramids or grown as standards.

<i>Gerbera ambigua</i> Species of flowering plant

Gerbera ambigua is a species of flowering plant in the section Lasiopus of genus Gerbera belonging to the basal Mutisieae tribe within the large Asteraceae family.

References

  1. Brian, Tarr. "SABONET Threatened Plants - Hilton Daisy". Southern African Botanical Diversity Network. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  2. "The Hilton Daisy". Hilton College. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  3. 1 2 Johnson, Isabell. "Hilton daisy clings to life". The Natal Witness. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  4. Johnson, Isabel. "Gerbera aurantiaca". PlantZAfrica.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.