The Hilton daisy, Gerbera aurantiaca, is one Threatened species

of our beautiful but rare and endangered plant

species, endemic to the KwaZulu-Natal mistbelt
grasslands. Photo: Robin Gardner.

Cultivating the
Hilton daisy

Robin Gardner looks at simple ways in which the endangered Hilton daisy,
Gerbera aurantiaca, can be propagated for repatriation in the wild.

The Hilton daisy, Gerbera aurantiaca, is a rare and endangered perennial herb
endemic to the KwaZulu-Natal mistbelt grasslands. From August to October, its
stark orange to crimson daisy-like flowers and glossy green leaves are conspicu-
ous in the grasslands. But for how much longer? Progressive fragmentation and
degradation of their natural grassland habitat - the result of agricultural and
urban expansion - as well as pillaging of plants and flowers from the wild, selective
grazing by domestic livestock and inappropriate fire management of habitat, have
played a significant role in the plant's demise. The situation is further exacerbated
by the fact that the species is extremely difficult to propagate and transplant.
Over the past decade as a forestry researcher, I have met a number of KwaZulu-
Natal timber growers actively trying to conserve colonies of Gerbera aurantiaca
on grassland areas of their estates. However, difficulty in propagating the species
consistently placed a stumbling block in the way of these conservation efforts.
Scott-Shaw (see further reading list below) recommended that the propagation of
G. aurantiaca should be high on the list of priorities for its future conservation, and found that Gerbera
with this is mind, I decided to do a bit of experimenting in my own time to satisfy
my curiosity as to whether the Hilton daisy could be propagated simply. I was aurantiaca had been suc-
particularly keen to provide a mechanism whereby landowners with G. aurantiaca cessfully propagated via
groWing on their properties could increase the numbers of the plants of their par-
ticular populations in situations where they had been seriously depleted.
'tissue culture' but the
On perusing the available literature, I found that G. aurantiaca had been suc- method required special-
cessfully propagated via 'tissue culture' but the method required specialised equip-
ized equipment and con-
ment and controlled conditions, and I was looking for a more user-friendly method.
In mid-November I collected seed from a wild population of G. aurantiaca at Queen trolled conditions, and I
Elizabeth Park in Pietermaritzburg (with the kind permission and assistance of was looking for a more
eZemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife). One flower head per plant was collected from
forty different individuals. Assisted by my children, the viable seeds were pains- user-friendly method.
takingly separated from the non-viable seeds in each flower head: the viable seeds
could be clearly distinguished from the non-viable in that the former were plump
and fell relatively fast when dropped. Each flower head produced, on average, about
three viable seeds.

June 2005 Veld&Flora 73

 Seedling propagation in erect position leaving the pappus (a
Basically, I tried two methods of prop- bristle-like structure) showing above
agation. With the first batch of seeds, 1 the soil level. The seedtrays were cov-
further divided them into two lots, and ered with a plate of transparent glass
treated the first half with a seed surface after a watering and placed outdoors
disinfectant called Thiram w.p. (the under 30% shade-cloth.
'treated' seeds). The second half was not In the pre-germinated 'treated' batch,
treated (the 'untreated' seeds). Pre-ger- germination and pricking out were com-
It appears that mination was carried out by placing the pleted within eleven days. With the
seeds on filter paper and vermiculite in direct-sown batch, germination was
Gerbera aurantiaca 9 cm wide petri-dishes and incubating much slower, with some seedlings tak-
is very specific in in the dark at 27 0C. Distilled water was ing fifty-three days to emerge. Final ger-
added to the petri-dishes periodically to mination percentages for the pre-ger-
its environmental
keep the fIlter paper damp. The second minated 'treated' and 'untreated' seeds
needs. Not taking batch of seeds were not treated with were 39.3% and 44% respectively, and
these specialized any seed surface disinfectant, neither for the untreated, direct-sown seeds,
were they pre-germinated. This batch 31.8%. All seedlings were transplanted
needs into account was going to be directly sown into the out into 15 cm wide plastic plant pots
is probably why soil medium. (filled with similar humic topsoil to that
The pre-germinated seeds were used in the seedtrays) during the first
most propagation pricked out and the direct-sown seeds two weeks of February 2001 within
and transplanting were sown into non-sterilized soil-filled eighty days of sowing. Transplanting
attempts fail. polystyrene seedling trays having 72 x was carried out during late afternoon in
100 ml compartments. Dolerite-derived, cool, cloudy conditions. The pots were
humic topsoil was collected from a placed outdoors and covered with 30%
virgin grassland site in the Kwazulu- shade-cloth. The plants were watered
Natal Midlands and sieved using a fortnightly by drenching with a hydro-
0.5 cm mesh, and placed in the seed- ponic solution. Thirty-five percent of
trays. No fertilizer was added. Each the plants survived transplanting into
pre-germinant was transplanted into pots.
the soil medium before the radicle (the In July 2002, 50% of all surviv-
emerging root) reached 1 cm in length, ing potted plants were transplanted
whereas the direct-sown batch of seeds directly into the open ground. The
were each inserted into the soil medium remaining 50% were planted out two

BotSoc link

Any research on this beautiful threatened daisy contributes to our knowledge of

it's population biology and conservation management. However, some factors to
bear in mind are:
• Under no circumstances may Gerbera aurantiaca seed or plants be collected
anywhere (including privately owned land) without a permit from eZemvelo KZN
Wildlife because it is a specially protected species. Permits will only be granted in
exceptional circumstances for scientific research after sufficient motivation to the
principal research officer.
• The apparently low seedling recruitment in the remaining populations means
that any removal of seed will probably have a detrimental effect on the long-term
survival of the species.
• Recently reservations have been voiced concerning the re-introduction of
ex-situ raised plants. These include the possible exposure of wild populations to
nursery pathogens and genetic contamination.
It is important to bear in mind that by far the biggest threat to the Hilton daisy is
the ongoing destruction of its habitat, the moist mistbelt grasslands of KwaZulu-
Natal.

Isabel Johnson. KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Garden, South African National

Biodiversity Institute
Isabel Johnson is working towards a doctorate with the University of KwaZulu-
Natal on the conservation biology of Gerbera aurantiaca. Her project is sponsored
in part by a Conservation Small Grant from the Botanical Society.

RIGHT: Jayne Gardner with the first Gerbera aurantiaca flower that appeared thirty-three
months after the pre-germinated batch of seeds was sown. Photo: Robin Gardner.

74 June 2005 Veld&Flora

 years later in July 2004. A survival
count in September 2004 showed that RIGHT: These Gerbera aurantiaca seeds were treated
with a seed surface disinfectant called Thiram,
all of the plants transplanted from placed on filter paper and vermiculite in 9 cm wide
pot to ground had survived. The first petri-dishes and incubated in the dark at 27 DC. Six
flowering occurred, in the plants still days later the germination process is well underway.
in pots, thirty-three months after sow- Photo: Robin Gardner.
ing (see accompanying illustration). By
December 2004, four years after sow-
ing, a few plants still had not flowered.
I found that burning and smoking the
aerial portions of Hilton daisies was not
always successful in stimulating flow-
ering, but, on the other hand, drying
them out appeared to stimulate flower-
ing rather successfully.
On a cloudy cool, humid day in early
August 2004 I lifted one well-estab-
lished (July 2002 out-planted) dormant
Hilton daisy out of the open ground.
The plant chosen had three distinctly
separate terminals. I cut the stock into
three portions, each having a few roots
TOP LEFT: A Gerbera auranti-
and a shoot terminal. I set the plantlets
aca seedling, fourteen months
carefully back in the open ground with after being pre-germinated
shoot terminals slightly above the soil and eleven months after being
surface. The soil surface was covered transplanted into a pot.
with 30 % shade-cloth and the bed
LEFT: Thirty days after being
watered occasionally to prevent drying sown, the Gerbera aurantiaca
out. By December 2004 the three plant- seeds were pricked out into
lets had become well established and polystyrene seedling trays
filled with a dolerite-derived,
were actively growing.
humic topsoil that was col-
It appears that G. aurantiaca is very lected from a grassland site in
specific in its environmental needs. the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
Apart from an ideal altitudinal niche of Here they are seen twenty-
four days after being trans-
950-1500 m in KwaZulu-Natal, the spe-
planted. Photos: Robin Gardner.
cies appears to favour dolerite-derived,
well-drained soils high in organic car-
bon. Not taking these specialized needs
into account is probably why most
propagation and transplanting attempts
fail. My results show that G. aurantiaca
can be sexually propagated fairly eas-
ily, using healthy, viable seed and basic
propagation equipment. A further trial
carried out during early 2001 using G.
aurantiaca seed from the Byrne area
near Richmond, produced similar ger- Further reading
mination rates using the same pre-ger-
mination method described here, but a Hilliard, O.M. 1977. Compositae in Natal. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg,
far higher, (one hundred percent) plant- pp. 590-591.
ing success rate, was achieved when Johnson, I.M. 2003. The decline of the daisies. Veld &Flora, 89(1 ),31.
the 'germinants were pricked directly Meyer, H.J. and Van Staden, J. 1988. The in vitro culture of Gerbera aurantiaca. Plant
into the pots. This would seem to be Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 14, 25-30.
the best route to follow regarding sexual Pooley, E. 1998. A field guide to wild flowers KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Region.
propagation of the species. Finally, with Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban, pp. 82-83.
proper care, propagation by division of Scott-Shaw, C.R. 1999. Rare and threatened plants of KwaZulu-Natal and neighbour-
underground stems appears to offer a ing regions. KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, Pietermaritzburg, p 37.
viable method of cloning G. aurantiaca
plants where necessary. The author
I hope this has provided some practi-
cal advice for potential conservators, Robin Gardner is a botanist and horticulturist by trade and works at the Institute
and that the sight of this beautiful for Commercial Forestry Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville,
daisy flowering in the KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg. He has an M.Sc. Agric: Horticulture.
grasslands won't disappear forever.
June 2005 Veld&Flora 75