Dimorphotheca jucunda but not pink

Dimorphotheca jucunda, the African daisy or trailing pink daisy, is a spreading perennial with white or pale lilac flowers. The plant in picture was flowering at Kirstenbosch, displaying the interesting colour variations at the base and tip of each petal, while not living up to the pink part of one of its common names.

The lower surfaces of the petals have a darker purplish colour. The ray florets are female and the disc florets are male. The leaves on the soft and slender branches create a dense base above which the flower stalks grow erect. Leaves are alternate, narrow, lanceolate to obovate and serrated.

The plant is hardy, grows in full sun and flowers well throughout summer and autumn. A mature plant is about 50 cm tall and nearly 1 m wide.

D. jucunda was previously placed in the genus Chrysanthemoides and was still exhibited at Kirstenbosch in March 2011 as Osteospermum jucundum, a name well established in the older literature.

The Royal Horticultural Society of England has given this plant an Award of Garden Merit or AGM (www.bbc.co.uk; www.crocus.co.uk).