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Felicia amelloides
Also called Blue Marguerite
Blue daisy is a soft, hairy, evergreen perennial from South Africa's southern coast, often grown as a groundcover or small shrub with blue daisy flowers. It thrives in sun and sharp drainage, and dislikes wet, humid heat.
Felicia amelloides, the blue daisy bush, blue felicia or kingfisher daisy, is a hairy, soft, usually perennial, evergreen plant, in the family Asteraceae. It can be found along the southern coast of South Africa. It grows as groundcover, and is cultivated as an ornamental, where it was introduced in Europe in the middle of the 18th century.
The blue daisy can be found in a strip along the south coast of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, from De Hoop Nature Reserve in the west to the mouth of the Kei River in the east. It extends furthest inland in the Eastern Cape at the Vanstadensberg near Port Elizabeth, the Groot Winterhoek Mountains near Uitenhage, and the Ecca Pass, on the road between Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort. The species is particularly common between Humansdorp and Port Alfred. The species does not occur on the Cape Peninsula, where it has been confused with Felicia aethiopica, with similar flower heads but alternately set leaves above the base.
Felicia amelloides is used as an ornamental, both in South Africa and elsewhere. It was introduced to Europe during the eighteenth century and was one of the earliest species in horticulture. It survives some frost provided the soil is well draining, but dislikes moist heat. In hot climates, flowering ceases during summer. In colder climates, it is often treated as an annual, is sheltered in greenhouses or grown as a house plant.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Felicia amelloides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
