Berkheya schinzii
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Full name: | Berkheya schinzii O.Hoffm. |
| Location: | Near B4, West of Aus (2616CA) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Namib doringdissel |
| English common name(s): | Namib thorn thistle |
| Synonym(s): | - |
| Status: | Endemic |
| Description: | Perennial, only slightly woody shrub, up to 1 m high. Young branches, leaves and inflorescences covered with felty hairs that flake off with age; bark cream, sometimes maroon. Leaves mostly opposite, upper leaves sometimes alternate; midrib prominent, white, stiff, ending in spine; divided with stiff, spreading, almost linear lobes tipped with spines. Flower heads with spreading flower bracts with prominent, spine-tipped midribs; ray florets with yellow limbs; disc florets yellow, covered with woolly hairs. Flowering February to November, peaking August to September. This endemic species is found only in the southern Namib. It is quite common around Aus and from there towards Helmeringhausen and Liideritz. The sparse, open appearance with long internodes distinguishes this species from others in the genus. (from Wildflowers of the southern Namib by Coleen Mannheimer et al) Leaves opposite, only uppermost ones often alternate. Capitula with ligulate marginal florets. Achenes with dense silky hairs; pappus scales lanceolate. Outermost involucral bracts much longer than the following ones, squarrosely patent. Leaves pinnatifid, with the central portion up to 7 cm long and with the divisions squarrose and up to 2 cm long and 3 mm broad. Suffrutex up to ca. 1 m high; younger parts covered with floccose felt, later glabrescent. Corolla of disc florets woolly-hairy (from Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | M Weigand |
| Date of photograph: | 13 Feb 2020 |
| Camera make: | Panasonic |
| Camera model: | DMC-FZ1000 |
| Lens aperture: | f/2.8 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/5000 s |
| ISO speed: | 125 |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
