Cultivars
There are many cultivars of the species please contact your local nursery for available varieties.

'Alba'
This upright shrub and grows to 300 mm (1 ft) tall and produces white flowers from spring to early summer.

'Kingfisher'
This upright shrub produces sky-blue flowers from spring to early summer.

'Reads Blue'
This shrub grows to 300 mm tall with a compact habit and produces large blue flowers with golden centres.

'Reads White'
This compact shrub grows to 300 mm tall and produces large white flowers with golden centres.

'Santa Anita Variegated'
This upright shrub grows to 300 mm tall with leaves that have white markings and produces blue flowers with golden yellow centres.

Asteraceae      Compositae
This family is recognised by several features the florets are clustered in the flower head, inferior ovary has one basal ovule and the stamens are connate around the style.

Distribution
This family is found throughout the world except Antarctica. In Australia they are found in arid and semi-arid regions covering large areas.

Diagnostic Features
There are numerous growth formsfrom small annual herbs, ephemeral, biennial or perennial rosette plants, shrubs but rarely creepers.

Theleavesdo not have stipules and may be arranged opposite or alternate with margins that are entire to deeply lobed. The texturemay be leathery or succulent and may be reduced to spins or needles.

The simple floweris in a tight inflorescence with many florets that sit on a fleshy receptacle that is surrounded by many involucral bracts. In some genera the bracts are reduced or not present and the receptacle may be in an elongated form giving it a club-shape inflorescence.

Each flower has an inferior ovarynormally with a colourful corolla on top with the calyx reduced to scales, bristle or hairs around the corolla.
Three distinctive Floret Types.

1.Disk floretsare funnel form corolla tube that has five equal lobes with fertile stamens and ovary.

2. Theligulate floretswith a corolla that is split down one side and the limb formed is extended to form showy ray florets. These flowers are unisexual.

3. The filiform floretscome from disk florets when the corolla tube is a slim cylindrical shape and these are normally unisexual.

Thefruitproduced from the different types is normally a cypsela (type of achene) although some florets don't produce fruit.

The corollahas five petals, which are five lobes in disk florets but are not easily seen in other types.

The stamensare arranged alternate with the petals and the filaments are normally fused to the corolla tube with the anthers arranged around the style in a connate form.
When the pollen falls onto the closed stigma the style elongates above the stamens and then the stigma opens to be pollinated.

The ovaryis inferior with one chamber and one ovule and forms a one seeded fruit, which is really anindehiscentfruit (cypsela). These are normally distributed by animals with barbs formed by the pappus and some by wind.

Note
This is one of the largest families but with low economic importance. They are used in the horticulture industry largely for cut flowers and in the case of sunflowers for seed oil. Many species are grown in domestic gardens and many have become weeds that are wide spread throughout the world.

This plant toleratesbetween USDAzones 9a to 11a and grows to0.5m (1 ft)
Fahrenheit      20şto 45şF
These temperatures represent thelowestaverage.
Celsius     -3.9şto 7.2şC
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