84. Dimorphotheca Moench, Methodus. 585. 1794.
African daisy, Cape marigold [Greek di-, two, morphe, shape, and theca, case or container, alluding to two forms of cypselae within each head]
John L. Strother
Annuals [perennials, subshrubs, shrubs], 5–40[150+] cm. Stems procumbent to erect [prostrate], glabrous or arachnose to piloso-hirtellous and/or stipitate-glandular. Leaves ± sessile or petiolate; blades oblong or oblanceolate to linear, margins entire or dentate [pinnately lobed], faces sparsely arachnose and/or stipitate-glandular. Heads borne singly. Involucres campanulate to hemispheric or broader, 5–20+ mm diam. Phyllaries 15–21 in 2(–3) series, lanceolate to lance-linear. Receptacles flat to conic. Ray florets 10–21+ in ± 1 series; corollas usually yellow to orange or white, sometimes purplish abaxially and/or at bases or apices, laminae oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate. Disc florets 15–50+, bisexual, all or mostly fertile (inner sometimes functionally staminate); corollas whitish or yellow, red, or purplish, tubes much shorter than ± campanulate throats (lobes sometimes with terete or dilated appendages). Cypselae (ray) triquetrous-prismatic to clavate, ± tuberculate or ridged; (disc) compressed, often winged, ± smooth. x = 9.
Species 7–18+ (2 in the flora): introduced; s Africa.
