You may have noticed that I generally refer to plants by their botanical names. Maybe that comes across as pretentious but I do it mainly because those names make the identity of plants clear, whereas common names often confuse matters, even if they're easier to remember and pronounce. Common names often vary by location and thus may baffle people from different parts of the country or elsewhere in the world. When I formerly conducted tours of the local botanic garden, the example I used to illustrate this point was Soleirolia soleirolii, a tongue-twister if there ever was one. I know these plants by the common name of "baby tears" but people in the UK call them "mind-your-own-business." I asked people on my tours what they would think if they asked someone what that delicate little creeping plant was and the response was "mind your own business." However, the bigger issue is that many plants bear the same common name, although they may look very different and belong to entirely different genera.
"African daisies" are a prominent case in point. This common name is used to refer to many plants including those in the genera Arctotis, Dimorphotheca, Gazania, Gerbera, and Osteospermum. The only things most of them share is that they're native to Africa; they have petals surrounding a central disk; and they belong to the Asteraceae plant family.
Here are examples of those I currently have in my garden:
Arctotis
This is the Arctotis cultivar 'Large Marge'. It's flowers are particularly big. They're also even brighter than they appear in my photos - I've joked that they can probably be seen from space. |
Gazania
This is a cultivar known as 'White Flame' from the Gazania 'Big Kiss' series. Like Arctotis, Gazanias close their petals in low light, making them less useful as cut flowers; however, those in the 'Sunbathers' series produce ruffled centers that allow the petals to remain open in low light. My 'Otomi' cultivar isn't blooming at present but you can see others in the 'Sunbathers' series in my 2015 post here. |
Osteospermum
I grow more Osteospermums than any other of the so-called African daisies. I'm especially fond of the varieties with ruffled centers. Shown above are Osteospermums '4D Silver' and '4D Violet Ice'. |
Osteospermums '4D Sunburst' on the left and 'Double Moonglow' on the right |
Osteospermums 'Serenity Bronze' on the left and 'Serenity Coral Magic' on the right, purchased years apart but they look very similar |
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day officially falls on Monday, April 15th, but I've already collected a record number of photos from my garden. The heavier-than-normal rain we've had, recently followed by temperatures in the 70s to low 80sF, has led to a floral explosion. This post carves the "African Daisies" out of that post and I'm considering other ways to pare down the content of my Bloom Day post, which I don't expect to publish until Wednesday, April 17th.
P.S. By coincidence, prior to finalizing this post, I visited a local garden center yesterday and overheard a woman asking a nursery person for a "pincushion succulent." When the staffer replied that they didn't carry such a plant I interjected that she might mean a Leucospermum, plants that have flowers described as "pincushions" that are drought tolerant although not classified as succulents. I pulled up "pincushion plants" on my phone, which showed a Scabiosa (commonly known as "pincushion flower"), followed by a Leucospermum (commonly known as a "pincushion shrub"). She identified the Leucospermum as the plant she was referring to. I pointed her in the direction of those plants in the garden center and identified another local garden center that also usually has a good supply of the plants. On my way out, I told the nursery person how things had worked out and she told me that she links "pincushion flowers" to Scabiosas, not Leucospermums and therefore didn't make the connection.
All material © 2012-2024 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
Ah yes... common names are so much fun! (no they are not) I enjoyed your rant as well as your flower photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks Loree. It's one of the few things about gardening that drives me crazy.
DeleteWhat a coincidence... A friend commented on a garden friend's online post about her yellow 'pincushion' flower (leucospermum). She said she's only ever seen lavender 'pincushion' (scabiosa). When I explained the different botanical names, she thought maybe the tag on her 'pincushion' was incorrect...
ReplyDeleteI certainly appreciate your use of botanical names and cultivar names (your gardening records are pretty amazing). Hadn't realized aaaall your examples share the common "African Daisies" moniker!
References to "African daisies" in lieu of a genus makes me a little crabby, Nikki.
DeleteCommon names, confusing to me. People in garden club ask me, "But what's the common name?" and I don't always, know, or add cautions like "there's more than one plant called "Pincushion flower" and they roll their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI've had several people ask me if Leucospermum are "succulents"--wonder where that impression is coming from?
What we here grow in the way of SA daisy flowering plants is just the tip of the iceberg...amazing biosphere there. You have a beautiful collection.
It's gotten so that I sometimes struggle with pulling the common name out of my memory bank too, HB. When I gave docent tours at the local botanic garden, I was chided about using botanical names - I eventually compromised by offering both.
DeleteThe woman asking about the "pincushion succulent" used a hand gesture to describe the flowers that made it pretty clear to me that she was referring to a Leucospermum. I think some people are translating "drought tolerant" to mean "succulent."
And, of course, all the plants that don't even have common names...and then we get the joy of making them up. It sounds like you would be a good nursery employee, with lots of patience. Felicias always make me happy. I've never grown Arctotis or Osteospermums. Gazanias were super popular in the desert southwest. And, Gerberas, I think I like the Gerberas the best. But, they don't make it through our winter.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told the nursery person of my conversation with the customer searching for the "pincushion succulent" she said I should come work there ;) However, ff my experience at SCBG was any indication, after awhile I suspect someone at the garden center would say I was spending too much time "explaining" things to customers...
DeleteGood on you, for remembering all the botanical names. I find it very difficult. If I remember any name at all, botanical or common, I consider it a success.
ReplyDeleteChavli
Well, I keep a master spreadsheet to prod my memory when it fails me, Chavli. However, as the years have passed the spreadsheet itself has become humongous and even the loose categories I used to identify where the plants were placed now encompass a lot of plants so even that device isn't working as well as it used to. And then there are always the plants (especially bulbs) that I forget to add to it and the plants I transfer from one area to another that I don't notate...
DeleteSo many beauties in your garden. :) I get the "common name" challenge/situation. I try to include the Latin genus and species names in addition to the common names for my posts. Sometimes I don't know (for various reasons) the varieties or cultivars, but yes, I hear you that it's best to refer to the Latin. Happy blooming!
ReplyDeleteAnd, to complicate matters further, the botanists and their darn DNA tests are resulting in new genera and reclassifications, Beth. It's enough to make all of us go batty.
DeleteHa, I wondered if you were offered a job - and I see in your reply that you were just about hired!
ReplyDeleteI doubt she had the power to hire me even if I'd wanted a job, Tracy. I expect I'd annoy them in no time if they did ;)
DeleteDazzling array of daisies, Kris. Smart idea to divvy up the Blooms Day cascade of flowers! Eliza
ReplyDeleteI'm currently planning to stuff the rest of my other photos into a single post, which may not be the best strategy but it'll have to do...
DeleteWe call the proteas pincushions, but not the Scabiosa (the protea has pins, but the Scabiosa?) aethiopica is 'South of the Sahara' as in 'beyond the known world' when they were named. And we are way down South with pictures of Aurora Australis yesterday on FB!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky to see the light display caused by the solar storm, Diana. Although, the display was visible in some of the more remote areas of Los Angeles County in Southern California, the electric lights in urban areas like mine interfered in our case.
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