Gazania

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Genus of flowering plants

title: "Gazania" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gazania", "annual-plants", "asteraceae-genera", "flora-of-southern-africa", "garden-plants-of-africa"] description: "Genus of flowering plants" topic_path: "general/gazania" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazania" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of flowering plants ::

|image = Gardenology.org-IMG 0043 rbgm10dec.jpg |image_caption = Gazania rigens growth habit |display_parents = 3 |taxon = Gazania |authority = Gaertn. |type_species = Gazania rigens |type_species_authority = (L.) Gaertn. |synonyms_ref = |synonyms =

Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to Southern Africa. They produce large, daisy-like composite flowerheads in brilliant shades of yellow and orange, over a long period in summer. They are often planted as drought-tolerant groundcover, but regarded as an environmental weed in parts of Australia, the Mediterranean, New Zealand, and California, where they have become naturalised.

Taxonomic history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Gazania_rigens_1791.png" caption="Illustrations of ''[[Gazania rigens]]'' from ''[[De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum]]'', 1791"] ::

The genus was first formally described by German botanist Joseph Gaertner in the second volume of his major work De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum in 1791. Gaertner named the genus after Theodorus Gaza, a 15th-century translator of the works of Theophrastus.

Gazania is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is a member of the tribe Arctotideae and the subtribe Gorteriinae. Within the subtribe it is close to Hirpicium and Gorteria.

Many of the species of Gazania are hard to distinguish and the number of species assigned to the genus has varied widely from one author to another. In 1959, Helmut Roessler published what he considered to be a preliminary revision of Gazania. At that time, he recognised 16 species. Roessler published some amendments to his treatment in 1973.

In 2009, a phylogeny of the genus was published. It was based on molecular phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequences. In this study, all of Roessler's species except Gazania othonnites were sampled. The authors found that eight species were not really separate, but formed a species complex. The seven species found to be distinct were G. jurineifolia, G. caespitosa, G. ciliaris, G. tenuifolia, G. heterochaeta, G. schenckii, and G. lichtensteinii.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Gazania_rigens_2022_ii.jpg" caption="Close-up macro shot of flower of ''gazania rigens''"] ::

Gazania species produce large, daisy-like composite flowerheads in brilliant shades of yellow and orange, over a long period in summer.

Distribution

The gazania is native to Southern Africa. The genus occurs from low-altitude sands to alpine meadows in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Angola.

Several species have been introduced and declared to be environmental weeds in parts of Australia, New Zealand, the Mediterranean, and California.

Australia

Gazania were first imported to Australia as garden plants in the 1950s and 1970s, touted for their low-maintenance cultivation and drought tolerance. However, they have since become an invasive species, due to their tolerance of harsh growing conditions, after escaping gardens. They have naturalised along roadsides and coastlines, invaded native grasslands and also started taking over vast tracts of agricultural land in South Australia, Victoria and parts of Western Australia. The plant's seed dispersal via wind has spread the plants into remote places, including the tops of sandhills and among native vegetation. Bunnings and other sellers of invasive plants have been lobbied by environmentalists about their sale of gazanias and other invasive species, such as English ivy.

Cultivation

Gazania species are grown for the brilliant colour of their flowerheads which appear in the late spring and are often in bloom throughout the summer into autumn. They prefer a sunny position and are tolerant of dryness and poor soils.

Numerous cultivars have been selected for variety of colour and habit. In temperate regions, they are usually grown as half-hardy annuals. A commonly grown variety is the trailing gazania (Gazania rigens var. leucolaena). It is commonly used as groundcover and can be planted en masse to cover large areas or embankments, assisted by its fast growth rate. Cultivars of this variety include 'Sunburst', 'Sunglow', and 'Sunrise Yellow'. Another popular cultivated variety is the clumping gazania (Gazania rigens), which has a number of named cultivars including 'Aztec', 'Burgundy', 'Copper King', 'Fiesta Red', 'Goldrush' and 'Moonglow'. The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

  • G. 'Aztec'{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/95312/i-Gazania-i-Aztec/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - Gazania 'Aztec' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}
  • G. 'Cookei'{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/64482/i-Gazania-i-Cookei/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - Gazania 'Cookei' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}
  • G. rigens 'Variegata'{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/52466/i-Gazania-rigens-i-Variegata-(v)/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - G. rigens 'Variegata' | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}
  • Talent Series{{cite web | url = https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/176785/i-Gazania-i-Talent-Series/Details | title = RHS Plantfinder - Gazania Talent Series | accessdate = 27 February 2018}}

Species

Sources:

Gallery

Image:Gazania heterochaeta.jpg|Gazania heterochaeta Goegap N.R., Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa Image:Gazania lichtensteinii.JPG|Gazania lichtensteinii Goegap N.R., Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa Image:Gazania rigens-1.jpg|Gazania rigens (flower) Image:Gazania x Copper King.jpg|Clumping gazania (Gazania rigens) cultivar known as "Copper King" at the Desert Demonstration Garden in Las Vegas Image:WhiteGazania.JPG|White and purple gazania Image:Gazania Rigens Yellow White (1).jpg|Yellow and White variety of Gazania rigens Image:Orange flowers 4.jpg|Orange gazania Image:Gazania flower 2.jpg|Gazania flower with some dew droplets

References

References

  1. [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40013076 Tropicos, ''Gazania'' Gaertn.]
  2. [https://archive.today/20141130063733/http://dixon.iplantcollaborative.org/CompositaeWeb/default.aspx?Page=NameDetails&TabNum=0&NameId=f816ac50-ebce-42b5-a1f0-a3bc5430a992 Flann, C (ed) 2009+ Global Compositae Checklist ]
  3. ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607
  4. Seranne Howis, Nigel P. Barker, and Ladislav Mucina. 2009. "Globally grown, but poorly known: species limits and biogeography of ''Gazania'' Gaertn. (Asteraceae) inferred from chloroplast and nuclear DNA sequence data". ''Taxon'' '''58'''(3):871-882.
  5. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37208442#page/507/mode/1up Gaertner, Joseph. 1791. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum 2(3): 451–452] in Latin
  6. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37208442#page/671/mode/1up Gaertner, Joseph. 1791. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum 2(3): plate CLXXIII (173)] line drawing of ''Gazania rigens''
  7. Per Ola Karis. 2007. "Arctotideae" pages 200-207. In: Klaus Kubitzki (series editor); Joachim W. Kadereit and Charles Jeffrey (volume editors). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VIII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany.
  8. Vicki A. Funk and Raymund Chan. 2008. "Phylogeny of the Spiny African Daisies (Compositae, tribe Arctotideae, subtribe Gorteriinae) based on ''trn''L-F, ''ndh''F, and ITS sequence data". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '''48'''(1):47-60.
  9. Helmut Rössler. 1959. "Revision der Arctotideae - Gorteriinae (Compositae)". ''Mitteilungen der Botanischen Staatssammlung München'' '''3''':71-500.
  10. Helmut Roessler. 1973. ''Mitteilungen der Botanischen Staatssammlung Muenchen'' '''11''':91-99.
  11. (2008). "RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants". Dorling Kindersley.
  12. "Aluka - Entry for Gazania Gaertn. [family COMPOSITAE]".
  13. "Genus ''Gazania''". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney Australia.
  14. Schremmer, Jessica. (4 November 2025). "Farmers and environmentalists call for national ban on selling invasive weed gazania".
  15. Kennedy, Else. (14 July 2024). "Retail giant Bunnings under fire for stocking invasive weeds that threaten Australian ecosystems".
  16. (1979). "Lawns & Groundcovers". Lane Publishing Co..
  17. (July 2017). "AGM Plants - Ornamental". Royal Horticultural Society.
  18. "African plants database".

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