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[2nd Image]
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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Asteraceae (Sunflowers) |
| Origin: Canary Islands (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Summer |
| Synonyms: [Nauplius sericeus, Odontospermum sericeus] |
| Height: 2-3 feet |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F |
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Asteriscus sericeus (Canary Island Daisy) - This silver-foliaged shrub grows to 30" tall by slightly wider. In its youth it forms a dense mound but with age has a more open structure showing its dark gray stems. It has 1 to 2 inch long thick and broadly lanceolate leaves are soft and light greenish-silver in color with silky fuzzy hairs and held at the branch ends. The yellow flowers are up to 3 inches across and appear in later winter to early summer with a scattered bloom later in mild coastal climates. Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil or on a mound and only water sparingly. This attractive plant is not terribly long lived but one can expect up to 5 years of it looking very nice, followed by a more open but still interesting look and it will often renew itself from seed. It has proven hardy to short duration temperatures to 20-25 degrees F. This is a great plant for the dry garden for use as an isolated specimen or grouped alongside other dry growing shrubs and succulents. Leave a few older plants and cultivate or move around emerging seedlings to prolong this plants existence in the garden. Canary Island Daisy is endemic to the island of Fuerteventura, the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife, where it grows in the mountainous northern part of the island on rocks from the coast up to an elevation of 2,300 feet. It has long been cultivation as an ornamental plant on several of the other islands in the chain, including Gran Canaria, Tenerife and El Hierro and has been succesful as it is not browsed by livestock. The name for the genus comes is derived from the Greek word 'asteriskos' meaning "small star" in reference to the smaller star shaped flowers and the epithet comes from Latin word 'sericum' meaning "silk" in reference to the soft silky hairs covering the leaves. In the Canary Islands it is known under its colloqial names jorja or tojía. This plant has also been known as Odontospermum sericeus and Nauplius sericeus but is currently listed as Asteriscus sericeus on The Plant List, the collaboration between Kew and Missiouri Botanic Garden. We first received seed of it in 1987 from Daryll Combs of Daryll's Exotic Plants in Carpinteria, CA (now in Dallas, Oregon) and have grown it off and on at the nursery since 1990.
Information displayed on this page about Asteriscus sericeus is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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