Diascia (plant)

Diascia
Diascia barberae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Tribe: Hemimerideae
Genus: Diascia
Link & Otto
Type species
Diascia bergiana
Link & Otto

Diascia is a genus of around 70 species[1] of herbaceous annual and perennial flowering plants of the family Scrophulariaceae,[2] native to southern Africa, including South Africa, Lesotho and neighbouring areas.

The perennial species are found mainly in summer-rainfall areas such as the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg; about 50 species, mostly annuals, are found in the Western Cape and Namaqualand, winter rainfall areas.

Their common name is twinspur, in reference to the two (usually downward-pointing) spurs to be found on the back of the flower.[3] These help to distinguish them from the similar (and closely related) genera Alonsoa and Nemesia. The spurs contain a special oil, which is collected in the wild by bees of the genus Rediviva (e.g. R. longimanus) that appear to have coevolved with the plants, as they have unusually long forelegs for collecting the oil.[4][5]

In gardens, Diascia cultivars (mostly hybrids) have become extremely popular as colourful, floriferous, easily grown bedding plants in recent years.[6]

  1. ^ PlantZAfrica.com Diascia integerrima
  2. ^ "Genera of Scrophulariaceae tribe Hemimerideae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  3. ^ Iannotti, Marie (28 March 2016). "A Trailing Flower that Blooms All Season - Diascia". gardening.about.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  4. ^ Google Books: Thompson, John N., The Coevolutionary Process
  5. ^ PlantSystematics.org Diascia (Scrophulariaceae)
  6. ^ Horticulture Week: Diascia, by Graham Clarke