Astericus maritimus - Yellow Sea Daisy
Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Asterales - Family: Asteraceae
This low-growing sea daisy forms dense patches of colour along cliff tops and beside coastal paths.
Description
The lush-looking dark green leaves are grey-green and leathery, and they seem at odds with the arid conditions in which the plant flourishes. Its yellow flowers are typically 2 to 4cm across and have long petals with double nitched (three-lobed) tips.
Distribution
This is a mediterranean species whose range extends from the Canaries, Greece to coastal regions of southern Spain and Portugal and southwards into some parts of northern Africa.
Blooming times
Yellow Sea Daisy flowers from March until May in the Algarve.
This member of the asteraceae family of flowers is also commonly referred to by its synonymous scientific name Odontospermum maritimus.
These specimens were photographed in the Algarve in April.
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