Gorteria

Gorteria is a genus of small annual herbaceous plants or shrubs that is assigned to the daisy family (Compositae or Asteraceae). It includes 12 species native to eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, and are surrounded by an involucre, consisting of in this case several whorls of bracts, which are merged at their base. In Gorteria, the centre of the head is taken by relatively few bisexual and sometimes also male, yellow to orange disc florets, and is surrounded by one complete whorl of 5–14 infertile cream to dark orange ray florets, sometimes with a few ray florets nearer to the centre. None, some or all of them may have darker spots at their base. The fruits remain attached to their common base when ripe, and it is the entire head that breaks free from the plant. One or few seeds germinate inside the flower head which can be found at the foot of plants during their first year. The species flower between August and October, except for G. warmbadica that blooms mostly in May and June. The species of the genus Gorteria can be found in Namibia and South Africa.

== Description == thumb|left|Gorteria personataFive of the species assigned to Gorteria are always annuals, two always shrublets (G. alienata and G. integrifolia), and one species (G. diffusa) is mostly annual, but populations near the coast in Namaqualand tend to survive and become woody in their second year. The stems are cylindrical (or terete) with long, stiff white hairs, rarely reddish or blackish at their foot, striped along their lengths, and sometimes with short soft hair as well. The alternately set leaves lack a stalk, have margins rolled downward and inward. The upper surface is sparsely to densely set with ½–2 mm (0.02-0.08 in) long stiff white hairs, while the lower surface is whitish felty hairy except on the midvein. The flower heads can be found on their own at the end of the branches, and are enveloped in an involucre, whose bracts are merged at their base only, with short, soft, silky white hairs and long, stiff white hairs with striping along their lengths. These involucres become woody with age, and the entire flower heads detach from the mother plant with the fruits (or cypselas) inside them. Later one new plant emerges (or sometimes up to five) from it. The common base of the florets (called the receptacle) does not have receptacular bracts (or paleas) at the foot of each floret. There are between five and fourteen infertile ray florets that have a base color that ranges between cream and dark orange. At the base there may be darker spots, sometimes jointly creating a ring, but sometimes only present on two or three of the ray florets. The underside has mostly a darker, less clear color and there are some short, striped hairs. The fertile yellow to orange disc florets are somewhat bilateral symmetrical (or zygomorph), deeply incised to form five lobes and have some hairs and glandular hairs. Some set seed, but most of them are functionally male. The anthers do not have tail extensions.