Euryops pectinatus, Golden Daisy Bush or Wolharpuisbos is a medium sized, evergreen shrub with attractive silvery-grey foliage and sunny yellow daisy flowers. They flower almost all year with peaks in spring and autumn, when they can be spectacular.
A fynbos plant, but easy to grow in Gauteng. It is a low maintenance, drought and cold hardy garden plant.
Family: ASTERACEAE (Daisy family).
Name Derivation:
- Euryops – from Greek ‘eurys’ large, and ‘ops’ eye, and refers to the bright flowers.
- pectinatus – A Latin word for comb or comb-like, implying that the feathery lobes of the leaves are comb-like.
Common Names: Golden Daisy Bush, Woolly Resin Bush (Eng), and Goue magrietjie, Wolharpuisbos (Afr).
Features of Euryops pectinatus
Euryops pectinatus leaves are deeply lobed, giving a fern-like appearance.
Form:
A small, evergreen shrub with a rounded to oval body.
Size:
- 1 – 1.5 m by 1 – 1.5 m.
Foliage:
- Evergreen.
- The leaves are between 4 and 10 cm long.
- They are deeply lobed, giving a fern-like appearance.
- The leaves are grey-green to silvery grey in colour.
Thorns:
- No thorns.
Flowers:
- Bright yellow, large (+/- 7cm) daisy type flowers.
- The flowers are borne individually.
- Flowers are carried on short stems above the foliage.
- Very showy when in full flower.
Colour:
- Bright yellow.
Flowering Months:
- Mar – Apr, Sep – Jan but may have some flowers all year.
Fragrance:
- Not fragrant
Fruit:
- The seeds are borne on the floret disc and are small and dark.
Growing Euryops pectinatus
Golden Daisy Bushes have bright yellow, large, daisy type flowers.
Euryops pectinatus flowers are borne above the foliage.
Euryops pectinatus in a mass planting, and kept short to act as a groundcover.
Euryops pectinatus planted in a garden with Plumbago auriculata for colour contrast.
In the Garden:
- This is a lovely garden plant. with its soft grey-green or silver-grey foliage and very showy flowers.
- Group in 3’s or 5’s or use in mass on embankments or as borders in large gardens.
- Plant single plants in strategic positions in small gardens where it can be a feature.
- They can be pruned up to form an attractive standard.
- Plant with other bright flowered plants like Tecomaria capensis (orange, red or apricot) or Plumbago auriculate (blue or white) for showy and striking colour contrasts.
- Makes a very good container plant in a sunny position on a patio or courtyard.
Soil Needs: A well-drained and well composted soil.
Care:
- A low maintenance plant.
- Feed with organic fertilizer and mulch with compost.
- Dead-head old flowers to force more flowers.
- Prune to shape.
- Cut back to prevent plant getting woody.
- Replace plants every 4 or 5 years.
Cold Hardiness: Cold hardy.
Water Requirements:
- Drought hardy, but water during winter.
Light Requirements: Full sun or light partial shade.
Roots: The roots are not aggressive.
Space Requirements: Plant 75cm to 1m apart.
Golden Daisy Bushes planted in a group as a flower bed border.
Ecology of Euryops pectinatus
Bees and other insects do visit Euryops pectinatus flowers.
Birds:
- Not noted as a ‘Bird’ plant but birds do forage in them.
Bees:
- Bees do collect food from the flowers.
Butterflies and other Insects:
- Adult butterflies and moths and other insect feed from the flowers.
Medicinal:
- No references to any medical use for this plant was found.
Poisonous: Poisonous if eaten.
Notes of interest:
- The Royal Horticultural Society awarded Euryops pectinatus their Award of Garden Merit, whatever that may mean.
Natural Distribution:
- Endemic to the WC.
Natural Habitat:
- Sandstone cliffs and rocky slopes in the WC mountains
The Golden Daisy, with its grey-green frilly leaves and bright yellow flowers, is a valuable garden plant.
References:
Eliovson, Sima “Wild Flowers of southern Africa” 1955, fully revised 1980 Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) (Pty) Ltd Johannesburg
Honig, Marjke “Indigenous Plant Palettes” 2014 Quivertree Publications Pretoria
Joffe, Pitta & Oberholzer, Tinus “Creative Gardening with Indigenous Plants, A South African Guide” 2nd ed. 2012 Briza Publications Pretoria
Johnson, David & Sally & Nichols, Geoff “Gardening with Indigenous Shrubs” 2002, Struik Publishers Cape Town
Manning, John “Field Guide to Fynbos” 2007 Struik Publishers Cape Town
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew “Euryops pectinatus” 20?? Kew, Richmond
Link” https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:207466-1 (Referenced 09 April 2022)
Turner, Sharon “Euryops pectinatus” 2001 PlantZAfrica Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens
Link: http://pza.sanbi.org/euryops-pectinatus (Referenced 09 April 2022)
Wikipedia “Euryops pectinatus”
Link: // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euryops_pectinatus (Referenced 09 April 2022)
© Malcolm Dee Hepplewhite & Witkoppen Wildflower Nursery, (Text and Photographs) 2020 & 2022.