The flowers of the gazania look just like faces, comical and amusing

Gazania is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Gazania in the Asteraceae family, with rhizomes. The leaves grow in a rosette, lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, entire or with shallow pinnate lobes, and the underside of the leaves is densely covered with white woolly hairs. The ray florets are white, yellow, and orange-red with a glossy sheen.

Also known as gazania, it is named for its shape resembling a medal. The gazania has peculiar flower shapes and rich colors, with a dark eye spot at the center of the flower that resembles a medal, giving it a strong wild charm. It is a common potted flower and flowerbed plant in gardens. Native to southern Africa. New cultivars are constantly emerging and are now widely cultivated around the world.

Gazania

Morphological characteristics:

A perennial herbaceous plant, also known as gazania, named for its shape resembling a medal. The gazania has peculiar flower shapes and rich colors, with a dark eye spot at the center of the flower that resembles a medal, giving it a strong wild charm. It is a common potted flower and flowerbed plant in gardens. Gazania has rhizomes, and the leaves grow in a rosette from the base, with leaves that are lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, entire or with shallow pinnate lobes, and the underside densely covered with white hairs; the flower heads are capitula, with ray florets in white, yellow, orange-red and other colors, and the petals have a glossy sheen. Flower diameter 7~8cm, flowering period April~May.

Related ornamental species in the same genus include the white-woolly gazania; the single-flowered gazania, with gray-green leaves and flowers in yellow, white, orange and other colors; and the feathery-leaved gazania, with pinnately lobed leaves and orange-yellow ray florets with a black eye at the base.

Gazania

Growing environment:

1. Light: Gazania loves sunlight, prefers growing in cooler places, is drought-tolerant, and tolerates poor soil; it is semi-hardy, so it can successfully overwinter in areas with milder winters. It needs ample sunlight during growth and flowering. If the cultivation site has insufficient light, the leaves become soft, flower buds decrease, flowers become smaller, and flower colors fade. Conversely, with ample sunlight, the flower colors are vivid and it blooms continuously.

2. Temperature: The suitable growing temperature for gazania is 15-20°C, 13-24°C from March to September, and 7-13°C from September to the following March. However, gazania has strong adaptability to high temperatures above 30°C, with slower leaf growth and reduced flowering. In winter, the temperature should not be lower than 5°C, but it can tolerate short periods of 0°C low temperatures; if prolonged, it is prone to frost damage.

3. Water: Gazania is relatively sensitive to water. Although the soil needs to be moist during the stem and leaf growth period, excessive soil moisture during the plum rain season can easily cause the plant to suffer from waterlogging and die entirely. At the same time, during high summer temperatures, air humidity should not be too high, and the potting soil should not accumulate water, otherwise both are unfavorable to the growth and flowering of gazania.

4. Soil: Choose fertile, loose, and well-drained sandy loam soil. For potting soil, a mixture of equal parts culture soil, leaf mold, and coarse sand can be used.

Gazania

Distribution range:

Native to South Africa, it is distributed in various parts of China, including Shenyang, Huludao, Dalian, Dandong, Anshan, Liaoyang, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Panjin, Beijing, Tianjin, Taiyuan, Linfen, Changzhi, Shijiazhuang, Qinhuangdao, Baoding, Tangshan, Handan, Xingtai, Chengde, Jinan, Dezhou, Yan'an, Baoji, and Tianshui. It grows in warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest areas.