Cineraria_deltoidea

<i>Cineraria deltoidea</i>

Cineraria deltoidea

Species of flowering plant

Cineraria deltoidea is a perennial[1][2] flowering plant of the family Asteraceae and the genus Cineraria which is also the closest known relative of the giant Dendrosenecio of East Africa.[3][4]

Quick Facts Cineraria deltoidea, Scientific classification ...

Description

Sometimes growing straight upwards but usually more sprawled or trailing, Cineraria deltoidea[2] can achieve heights of 16 to 60 centimeters (7 to 25 inches) [1] or 15 to 300 centimeters (6 to 128 inches).[2]

Stems and leaves
Branched stems often purplish, covered with tufts to dense mats of woolly hairs which are thin and cobweb-like or short and soft. The leaves are attached to the stem with leaf stalks except for the leaves at the top. The leaf shape can be egg shaped (wider than it is long) or "narrowly triangular". 1 to 7 centimeters long and 1 to 10 centimeters wide, the base is heart-shaped or seems cut off at the tip or is "interrupted by a notch". Five to eleven lobes, sometimes with teeth on the tips. Leaves are green and hairless except for the main veins or sometimes with tufts of soft hairs on the underside, which might fall off seasonally. The leaf stalk, 1 to 6 centimeters long, often is narrowly winged and occasionally has one to four small oblong lobes.[2]
Flowers
Flower heads can be held straight up or sometimes droopy from their stalks and rarely appear alone, more often appearing together in large quantities forming flat-topped inflorescence in which the central flower opens first. Flower heads each with a cylindrical ring of eight to fourteen pale green with brown to reddish brown tipped bracts, sometimes with hairs but most often without and two to eight bracts simulating a calyx. Four to fourteen golden yellow to lemon yellow ray florets and with yellow disc florets.[2]
Fruits
Dark colored achenes, less than 4 millimeters long; pappus is 3 to 6 millimeters long.[2]

Distribution

Cineraria deltoidea is found between the altitudes of 200 to 1,650 meters (660 to 5,400 feet)[1] and is widespread throughout the mountains of the East African Rift, including the high plateau regions of Malawi and the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe.[5]

References

  1. [1]
    "Cineraria deltoidea Sond. record n° 99040". African Plants Database. South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève and Tela Botanica. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  2. [2]
    Aluka. "Cineraria deltoidea Sond. [family COMPOSITAE]". African Plants. Ithaka Harbors, Inc. Archived from the original on 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2008-05-15. Flora of Tropical East Africa, Part 3, page 547 (2005) Author: H. Beentje, C. Jeffrey & D.J.N. Hind
  3. [3]
    Knox, Eric B.; Jeffrey D. Palmer (October 24, 1995). "Chloroplast DNA Variation and the Recent Radiation of the Giant Senecios (Asteraceae) on the Tall Mountains of Eastern Africa". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 92 (22). National Academy of Sciences: 10349–10353. Bibcode:1995PNAS...9210349K. doi:10.1073/pnas.92.22.10349. JSTOR 2368673. PMC 40794. PMID 7479782.
  4. [4]
    Knox, Eric B.; Jeffrey D. Palmer (Dec 1995). "The Origin of Dendrosenecio within the Senecioneae (Asteraceae) Based on Chloroplast DNA Evidence" (PDF). American Journal of Botany. 82 (12). Botanical Society of America: 1567–1573. doi:10.2307/2446185. hdl:2027.42/141916. JSTOR 2446185. 2446185.
  5. [5]
    Balkwill, Kevin; Knox, Eric B.; Cron, Glynis V. (April 1, 2006). "Two new species and a variety of Cineraria (Asteraceae) from tropical Africa". Kew Bulletin. 61 (2). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
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