Cineraria deltoidea
Encyclopedia
Cineraria deltoidea is a perennial flowering plant
of the family
Asteraceae
and the genus
Cineraria
who is also the closest known relative of the giant Dendrosenecio
of East Africa
.
Stems and leaves: Branched stem
s 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. Leafs 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.
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 red
dish brown tipped bract
s, sometimes with hairs but most often without and two to eight bracts simulating a calyx
. Four to fourteen gold
en yellow to lemon
yellow ray florets and with yellow
disc florets.
Fruits: Dark colored achene
s, less than 4 millimeters long; pappus
is 3 to 6 millimeters long.
, including the high plateau regions of Malawi
and the eastern highlands
of Zimbabwe
.
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
and the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Cineraria
Cineraria
Cineraria is now generally treated as a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa...
who is also the closest known relative of the giant Dendrosenecio
Dendrosenecio
Dendrosenecio is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. It is a segregate of Senecio, in which it formed the subgenus Dendrosenecio...
of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
.
Description
Sometimes growing straight upwards but usually more sprawled or trailing, Cineraria deltoidea can achieve heights of 16 to 60 centimeters (7 to 25 inches) or 15 to 300 centimeters (6 to 128 inches).Stems and leaves: Branched stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
s often purplish
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
, 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. Leafs are green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
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.
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
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
in which the central flower opens first. Flower heads each with a cylindrical ring of eight to fourteen pale green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
with brown
Brown
Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color....
to red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
dish brown tipped bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s, sometimes with hairs but most often without and two to eight bracts simulating a calyx
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
. Four to fourteen gold
Gold (color)
Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....
en yellow to lemon
Lemon (color)
Lemon or lemon yellow is a color somewhat resembling yellow and named after the fruit. The color lemon is a representation of the color of the outer skin of a lemon.The first recorded use of lemon as a color name in English was in 1598....
yellow ray florets and with yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
disc florets.
Fruits: Dark colored achene
Achene
An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate and indehiscent...
s, less than 4 millimeters long; pappus
Pappus (flower structure)
The pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual disk, ray or ligule floret surrounding the base of the corolla, in flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae. The pappus may be composed of bristles , awns, scales, or may be absent. In some species, the pappus is too small to see...
is 3 to 6 millimeters long.
Distribution
Cineraria deltoidea is found between the altitudes of 200 to 1,650 meters (660 to 5,400 feet) and is widespread throughout the mountains of the Rift Valley of AfricaGreat Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
, including the high plateau regions of Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
and the eastern highlands
Eastern Highlands
The Eastern or 'East African Highlands is a mountain range in the east of Zimbabwe and one of 4 distinct physiographic divisions on the African continent.-Location and description:...
of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.