Dicoma anomala subsp. cirsioides

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Botanical name

Dicoma anomala subsp. cirsioides

Other names

Maagwortel or maagbitterwortel (Afrikaans)

Family

Asteraceae

Dimensions

Perennial low-growing herb with several erect stems from a woody rootstock

Description of stem

Several erect stems emanate from the central rootstock; the stems are ribbed;

Description of leaves

Narrowly linear to lanceolate leaves, recurving, approximately 2 cm wide, dark green upper surface, whitish and woolly below

Description of flowers

Flowers cup to cone-shaped, cream to pinkish with a woolly appearance of the disc-florets; the pinkish bracts surrounding each composite flower are prickly, sharp points, not spreading at the tips

Description of seed/fruit

 

Description of roots

 

Variation

 

Propagation and cultivation

Rarely cultivated?

Tolerances

 

Uses

The root is widely used medicinally; decoctions are used to treat various stomach and chest complaints, as well venereal diseases; it also serve in the treatment of toothache, ringworm and fever conditions; the stems have been used by bushmen in bowmaking for hunting and as firewood

Ecological rarity

Common

Pests and diseases

 

Other

 

Location

Stony, open grassland, also in harshly exposed conditions

Distribution (SA provinces)

North West; Gauteng; Limpopo; Mpumalanga; Free State; Kwazulu-Natal

Country

South Africa; Botswana; Mozambique; Zimbabwe; Zambia and further north in Sub-Sahara Africa