Dimorphotheca fruticosa
Trailing african daisy
(c) Shaun Swanepoel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Shaun Swanepoel · licence
Family: Asteraceae · Type: Herb · Not Native
Dimorphotheca fruticosa (Trailing african daisy) is a non-native California herb in the Asteraceae family, recognized by differentiated by trailing, rooting habit vs. erect shrub vs. small annual, plus flower color differences.
Trailing african daisy is a naturalized perennial herb found in coastal California regions including the Central Coast, Southern Coast, and Peninsular Ranges in disturbed places, beaches, and coastal areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from March to July and potentially blooming year-round in cultivation, this plant produces ray flowers with striking pink-purple to rose-purple colors on the front and purple or deep rose-purple on the back, with disk flowers in blue-purple tones. Growing with trailing to ascending stems up to one meter long that root where they contact the ground, it develops sparingly branched stems with a somewhat puberulent and minutely glandular texture. Its leaves range from 4 to 8 centimeters long, with oblanceolate to obovate blades that are relatively fleshy, having proximal wing-petioled leaves and distal nearly sessile leaves that are entire or sparingly dentate. The plant forms large daisy-like flower heads 4 to 7 centimeters in diameter with lance-linear phyllaries 12 to 15 millimeters long.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 2 sympatric species; differentiated by trailing, rooting habit vs. erect shrub vs. small annual, plus flower color differences
Habitat and range
Habitat: Uncommon. Disturbed places, beaches, coastal areas
Elevation: < 200 m
Outside California: native to southern Africa
Bloom period
Dimorphotheca fruticosa blooms Generally Mar-Jul(+- all year in cultivation).
How to tell it apart
vs Anemone: Anemone has no true petals (just colorful sepals) and never has a yellow disk center like Dimorphotheca.; vs Osteospermum: Osteospermum has spoon-shaped disk fruits with a hardened center, while Dimorphotheca disk fruits are flat.; vs Arctotis: Arctotis plants are coarse perennials or subshrubs with inch-long rays; Dimorphotheca is a delicate annual with half-inch heads.; vs Encelia: Encelia has no ray flowers on most heads (disk-only), while Dimorphotheca always has showy rays.; vs Gazania: Gazania leaves are white-woolly underneath and clustered at the base; Dimorphotheca has green puberulent leaves along stems.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dimorphotheca fruticosa native to California?
No. Dimorphotheca fruticosa is not native to California (recorded as not native).
When does Dimorphotheca fruticosa bloom?
Dimorphotheca fruticosa blooms Generally Mar-Jul(+- all year in cultivation).
What plant family does Dimorphotheca fruticosa belong to?
Dimorphotheca fruticosa is in the Asteraceae family, genus Dimorphotheca.
What habitat does Dimorphotheca fruticosa grow in?
Dimorphotheca fruticosa grows in Uncommon. Disturbed places, beaches, coastal areas.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.