Osteospermum

Osteospermum is a genus of perennial herbs and shrubs in the Asteraceae family. These plants are sometimes commonly called boneseed, a translation of the generic name; otherwise bietou, a retained Khoi name.

The leaves are mostly alternate, in few species opposite. The usually stalkless leaves have entire, toothed or lobed margins, the leaf-shape often lanceolate to ovate.

The few to many-flowered heads comprise both ray and disc florets. They usually grow solitary on peduncles from stem-tips. The bell-shaped involucre consists of one to four rows of free bracts. The receptacle is flat or convex, without scales.

The yellow or orange yellow ray florets are female. They sometimes have dark markings at the base and are sometimes three-toothed at the tip. The disc florets are male, tubular with five lance-shaped lobes.

The anthers have short tails and appendages at their tips. The style is linear or cylindrical. The fruits are variably shaped without pappuses, sometimes globose and fleshy, eaten and dispersed by birds or animals, others with wing appendages facilitating wind dispersal.

There are about 80 species, mostly in tropical or southern Africa, some in the Middle East and on some islands. Many cultivars occur in the horticulture market.

The plant in picture is Osteospermum sinuatum (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning, 2007).