Dimorphotheca pinnata

Dimorphotheca pinnata, commonly known in Afrikaans as the jakkalsbietou (jackal bietou) and previously scientifically as Osteospermum pinnatum, is a sprawling, much-branched annual that reaches heights from 5 cm to 20 cm. There isn’t unanimity yet as to whether the move from Osteospermum is correct.

The soft, sometimes purple stems and the leaves are glandular-haired. The leaves are pinnately divided to near the midribs, the narrow lobes oblong. Leaf dimensions are 2 cm long and 1 cm wide.

The species is found from southwestern Namibia across the west of the Northern Cape to the Western Cape across the Tanqua Karoo and the Little Karoo. The photo was taken near Oudtshoorn.

The habitat is grassland and scrub on arid and semi-arid rocky and sandy slopes, flats and dry riverbeds. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Van Rooyen and Van Rooyen, 2019; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).