Arctotheca calendula

Kaplöwenzahn ( Arctotheca calendula )

The Kaplöwenzahn ( Arctotheca calendula ) is a plant from the sunflower family ( Asteraceae).

Features

The Kaplöwenzahn is an evergreen, rosettige, perennial, herbaceous plant, the underground, creeping - rooted offshoots forming and reaches stature heights of 30 to 60 centimeters. The leaves measure 5-15 × 2-5 cm and are verkehrteiförmig, lyre-shaped pinnate to undivided and white hairs on the underside. The flower heads are on 10 to 25 centimeters long stems. They are leaf axils and have a diameter of 2.5 to 4 ( rarely to 6) inches. There are less than 20 florets present. These are yellow to orange in color and gray green on the bottom or tinged with purple. The tubular flowers are yellow, maybe sometimes even brown. The fruits are pink, brown and silky woolly.

The flowering period extends from July to October.

Occurrence

The Kaplöwenzahn comes in South Africa in Namaqualand, in the Karoo and the Cape to Natal. It grows in coastal areas ruderal on sandy soils. In Australia, North and South America and Western Europe, the species is naturalized.

Use

The Kaplöwenzahn is rarely used as an ornamental plant for summer flower beds, rockeries and embankments. He is a ground cover. The species is in cultivation since at least 1739.

Documents

• Eckhart J. Hunter, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd Müller, K. (ed.): Rothmaler - Excursion Flora of Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8, p 632