cineraria

A dwarf shrub growing to 60 cm/2 ft or more, native to Africa and Madagascar; stem much-branched from the base; leaves rounded, shallowly lobed, thickly white-haired beneath; flower-heads numerous, daisy-like, in dense flat-topped clusters, red to deep blue-violet. The popular garden cinerarias are derived from a related species, Pericallis hybrida, native to the Canary Is. (Genus: Cineraria, c.50 species. Family: Compositae.)

Cineraria is now generally treated as a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to southern Africa.