Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower has white spoon-shaped rays with purple undersides around a dark purple disc

Dimorphotheca ecklonis

Native to South Africa’s Eastern Cape, it is an evergreen shrub or subshrub with stems that become woody near the base. Its alternate leaves are slightly fleshy, oval to lance-shaped, and may have smooth or toothed margins. Daisy-like flower heads combine broad ray florets with a central disc of tiny tubular florets. In the wild form, the rays are white above and blue to violet beneath, surrounding a dark blue or purple disc. Garden cultivars offer pink, purple and other colors, and some have spoon-shaped rays with pinched middles. The plant is also widely sold under the name Osteospermum ecklonis. It has naturalized in California and parts of eastern and southwestern Australia. In New South Wales and Western Australia, it is an emerging environmental weed. It contains hydrocyanic acid and is poisonous to cattle. Photographed in Bogotá, Colombia.

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Two purple Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower heads have dark discs surrounded by yellow anthers

Two white Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower heads have pale centers ringed with orange anthers

Pink Dimorphotheca ecklonis flowers have dark discs among toothed green leaves

Two pale lilac Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower heads have blue discs and yellow anthers

A pale pink Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has a purple disc and yellow anthers

A Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has white spoon-shaped rays with purple undersides

A magenta Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has a dark purple disc and yellow anthers

A white Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has purple ray bases around a dark purple disc

A pink Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has a dark disc surrounded by yellow anthers

A white Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has a blue disc and yellow anthers

A pink Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has narrow ray florets around a dark disc

A lilac Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has a purple disc dotted with yellow anthers

A pale Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has pink-tinted rays around a purple disc

A Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has white spoon-shaped rays with purple undersides and a blue disc

A white Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has broad rays surrounding a blue-purple disc

A Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has white spoon-shaped rays around a blue-purple disc

A pink-purple Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has water droplets on its rays

A pale pink Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has darker ray bases and a purple disc

A Dimorphotheca ecklonis flower head has white spoon-shaped rays with purple middles