Gerbera aurantiaca

The Hilton daisy is a strikingly beautiful grassland plant that occurs around Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal. The species is under considerable threat of extinction due to habitat fragmentation and degradation resulting from agriculture and urban sprawl.

Status: Endangered
Description
The species is a low-growing herb with thick, thong-like roots, and rosettes of elliptical, dark green, leathery leaves. The plants grow vegetatively by underground stems to form clones which can reach over a metre in diameter and are thought to be hundreds of years old. Plants typically die back during the dry winter months and leaves begin to emerge in spring. 
As with all daisy family plants, the 'flowers' are not single flowers but a head made up of many tiny florets massed together. The 'petals' (ray florets) are usually a striking crimson, but may be orange, pink or yellow on the upper surface and are coppery below. It is thought by some that the colour variations might have resulted from hybridization with a close relative, Gerbera ambigua. The disc florets in the 'flower' centre appear black or dark purple when the inflorescence opens, changing to yellow as the pollen is presented. Flowering takes place in spring, from September to November, when the daisies form spectacular masses in the grassland.

Distribution

G. aurantiaca is endemic to the mistbelt grassland region of KwaZulu-Natal and is currently known from approximately 9 scattered populations from Helahela in the south to Babanango in the north. This is a summer rainfall area, which experiences very cold winters, often with snow in some localities.Hilton daisies typically occur in rocky grassland between 900 and 1 500 m, on warm slopes in well-drained, shallow soils associated with doleritic formations.Most localities are burnt annually.

Ecology

Gerbera aurantiaca has been selected as the flagship species of the Natal National Botanical Garden's SABONET-funded Threatened Plants Programme. The programme is combining a study of the population biology of the Hilton daisy in the wild, together with the establishment of ex situ populations from the major localities, and the selection and propagation of some of the most attractive varieties for horticulture.

The pollinator of the Hilton daisy is thought to be the brown hairy monkey beetle which feeds on the pollen, and probably uses the flowers as rendevous platforms for mating. The large pollen grains get caught in the hairy body of the insect and are carried to the next flower that the beetle visits where they may be brushed off and pollinate receptive florets. A number of insects feed on the developing seedheads and can severely reduce seed set.

The seeds with their hairy parachutes which aid in dispersal, are carried short distances by the wind. However, seedlings are seldom seen in the wild, although the seed germinates readily.

Uses and cultural aspects

The Hilton daisy does not appear to be used for traditional healing purposes. However, as it is such an attractive plant, that in the past, keen gardeners frequently dug plants out of the wild to grow in their gardens. This was virtually never successful and the plants are notoriously difficult to grow in cultivation.