5 Arctotis stoechadifolia Seeds - Groundcover - Indigenous South African Endemic Perennial

Arctotis stoechadifolia Seeds

Silver Arctotis; Kusgousblom 

Arctotis is a genus of about 40-50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa, from South Africa north to Angola. Some of the plants are alternatively placed in the genus Venidium. Many are called by the common name "African daisy", or "Botterblom" and "Gousblom" in Afrikaans. Some species have been developed as popular horticultural items because of their attractive yellow, orange, red, or white flowers. Gardeners cultivate some species as frost-hardy annuals. Arctotis stoechadifolia is a South African endemic species found in the Western Cape Province. A tough and fast-growing groundcover often seen in gardens around the world, Arctotis stoechadifolia surprisingly only occurs naturally along a small strip from the Cape Peninsula to the West Coast. A sprawling perennial, the silver arctotis forms a striking silver-grey carpet that easily covers an area of about 1.2 m wide, with upright shoots and flowers standing about 350 mm high. The base of the plants become woody with age, but the long, spreading stems and leaves are soft, woolly and slightly sticky with a very strong bitter-sweet smell when touched. The white felted leaves are long and narrow (lance-shaped) with the edges slightly toothed or serrated. The showy flowers are large, single daisies with long, creamy to light yellow petals that are marked with red/maroon underneath. The centre of the flowers is black. Flowering for a few months from spring to summer (September-December), it creates quite a show with masses of flowers. Typical for Arctotis, the flowers only open with sunlight; the flowerheads curve down as they start to seed, only straightening up when the seed is ready to be blown away by the wind. The big, fluffy seeds ripen quickly within weeks after flowering and are easy to collect as they loosen and fall from the seed head.