Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"

Another short and simple entry, about a small and simple little flower! This is the Barberton Daisy, Gerbera jamesonii. Barberton is a town in the province of Mpumalanga here in South Africa. It is a very picturesque region with mountains, grasslands and forests. The genus name, Gerbera, honours Traugott Gerber, a German naturalist of the Eighteenth Century, while the species name honours Robert Jameson, who in 1884 brought living specimens of this daisy from its native region of Barberton to the Botanic Gardens of Durban on the eastern coast, where they were cultivated and studied, and sent on to Kew in Britain. Today this little flower is grown all over the world, and numerous cultivars have been created, some with large and double-petalled flowerheads, and in a variety of different colours. They’ve also been hybridised with other Gerbera species to furnish even more varieties of showy daisies for gardens, for house plants or for cut flower bouquets. There are about 30 different species of Gerbera, native to Africa, Madagascar, Asia and South America.

In nature, this daisy is found mostly in grassland, savannah or open woodland or scrub. It requires sandy or otherwise well-draining soil. Nevertheless, it often grows in a moist climate. Its distribution stretches well away from Barberton. The two photos I include here, were taken close to the town of Haenertsburg, in the foothills of the Wolkberg Mountains, a couple of hundred kilometres to the north-northwest of Barberton. The plants, when flowering, are quite conspicuous, the flowerheads almost glowing amidst the fresh green foliage surrounding them. In my drawing, I 'removed' all surrounding plants so you can see the leaves all sprouting from the narrow base of the plant. In the wild, they are almost always growing amidst dense grass, herbs or shrubs, so you can hardly see the basal tuft of leaves, only the thin flower stalks rising up and bearing the flowerheads. These plants just about always grow like this, with just a single flower stalk bearing a single flowerhead. These heads can stand a metre/yard tall in robust specimens – I've seen many such on my explorations. The leaves can reach a length of 30 cm/12" or more, and are deeply lobed, though the degree varies. They're covered in short, silky hairs. In natural plants, the flower colour varies: the 'petals' (to be precise, the ray florets) can be yellow, cream, pinkish, orange or red. I love the orange and red ones such as those in my photos. As you can see, at least one kind of beetle loves these flowers as well! But even with a bit of beetle-damage to its petals, this flower is still pretty.

Daisy flowers are actually very complex. The Barberton Daisy is a perfect illustration of the composite daisy flowerhead. This is called a 'capitulum' (Latin for 'little head'). Let's look at the central portion of the flowerhead first. This is actually a disk from which arises a mass of small, tubular flowers tightly pressed together. They are called disc-florets. They are the flowers that actually contain the nectar and pollen, by which the flowers fertilize each other. What looks like 'petals' surrounding the central disk, are actually a second type of flower called a 'ray floret'. Each ray floret has just a single long, narrow petal. The ray florets are sterile; they're just there for decoration. Actually, this is quite important! The showy ray florets attract pollinators from far away, and direct them to the central disk where they can get their nectar and pick up the pollen. The idea of course is to collect pollen from the disc florets of one plant and then transfer it to the disc florets of a different plant, so that there could be a proper exchange of genes.

The daisy family as a whole is sometimes called the Compositae for these composite flowerheads. There are actually two main varieties of daisy flower. The typical daisy type is this one; the other type is the thistle type. In this flowerhead, the ray florets are reduced or absent, and the central disc florets are prominent. Though often not as showy as the daisy-type flowerheads, in many species these thistle type flowers can also be quite spectacular. One example is the species Kleinia fulgens, with its beautiful orange-red flowerheads.

Growing the Barberton Daisy

Aside from the various hybrids and cultivars in horticulture I think it would be great for people to grow the natural form of this species. It can be grown from seed, which must be reasonably fresh – preferably sown within two months of being collected. The medium should be fertile and well-draining. Germination is best at close to room temperature. Plants will flower at the age of one year.

Once the plants are growing, they will over time form new tufts from their growth tips. These, once strong, can be separated to form new plants. Plant them with the growth tip well above soil level. Remember that these plants prefer well-draining soil. Plant them in the open where there is lots of sunlight and good air circulation around the tufts, to minimize the chances of fungal infections and other diseases. Snails and slugs also tend to enjoy eating the leaves. As you know, I'm not partial to using poisons in gardens. In my own, birds like thrushes and ibises keep slugs and snails well under control. Growing this little flower in a pot inside the house is a good way to keep them out of reach of such critters. Outdoors, the Barberton Daisy can stand only very light frost, and should be kept moist in summer and a bit less moist over the winter, even though it grows year-round. It appreciates fertilization, this enhancing the flower displays. Also, remove old flowerheads, which will stimulate new ones to form.

Colours of Wildlife Archive

Willem

02.02.15 Front Page

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