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Gazania linearis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to South Africa.

Gazania linearis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Gazania
Species:	G. linearis
Binomial name
Gazania linearis (Thunb.) Druce
Synonyms[1]
Arctotis staticefolia Poir. Gazania kraussii Sch.Bip. Gazania longiscapa DC. Gazania multijuga DC. Gazania pinnata var. multijuga (DC.) Harv. Gazania stenophylla Auct. Gazania subulata R.Br. Gorteria linearis Thunb.

Description

Gazania linearis is a clumping perennial herb. The leaves are usually slender and linear in shape, and are usually simple (but can sometimes also be slightly pinnate). The lower leaf margins are rough and spiny-to-ciliate. The upper leaf surface is dull green while the undersides are white woolly (tomentose). The leaves have long, winged petioles and form basal rosettes at the ground around the short branching stem.[2]

The plant produces large, solitary daisy-like flower-heads in shades of bright yellow or orange, although the colors may vary in cultivated specimens. Each head may be up to 8 centimeters (3 inches) across and has a dark reddish center of disc florets and an outer fringe of about 20 long ray florets. The ray florets may have dark spots near the bases, curl upwards along their edges, and close at night.[3] The involucre is subcupuliform or obtusely bell-shaped (campanulate) in shape. Both the involucre and scape can be glabrous or setose. Of the terminal involucre bracts, the outer row is linear with setose-ciliate margins, while the inner row is acuminate with membranous-entire margins. The fruit is a tiny achene covered in very long hairs several times the length of the fruit body.[4][5][6][7]

Diagnostic characters

Gazania linearis is very similar in its morphology to Gazania krebsiana, Gazania ciliaris, Gazania pectinata, Gazania rigida and others. It is partially distinguished from other Gazania species by a mixture of several characteristics:[8]

• Unlike Gazania krebsiana, Gazania pectinata, Gazania rigida and many other species, the Gazania linearis involucre usually has parietal scales/bracts in at least one clear row around its involucre, in addition to the usual rows of terminal scales/bracts around the tip of its involucre.
• Unlike Gazania ciliaris, the Gazania linearis petioles are not ciliate, its involucre base is slightly intrusive, and the bases of the old dead leaves often persist around the lower stem.

Distribution and ecology

Gazania linearis is indigenous to the southern and eastern parts of South Africa, where it occurs from the Eastern Cape (Humansdorp) in the west, eastwards to KwaZulu-Natal Province.[9]

It has also taken hold as an introduced species in other parts of the world with similar climates, such as in California and New Mexico in the United States; Australia; and New Zealand, where it has been classified as a weed.[4][10][11] The species typically grows on grassy and rocky hillsides.[3] Gazania Linearis is classified as invasive in some areas, including California.[3]

References

External links

• Jepson Manual Treatment
• USDA Plants Profile
• Photo gallery
• Media related to Gazania linearis at Wikimedia Commons

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