All this tends to show that botany is not such an exact science and plants often intergrade more than we would like them to! It interests me that just at the point we pin down what a plant is also the point at which confusion begins. The best estimate is to grow a whole range of plants yourself and compare and contrast form, provenance and the botanical literature - but it is also nice to garden with them too
. I am quite keen on growing these - especially the smaller less 'weedy' species - and the best article I have found is by Prof. O. Schwarz (AGS Bulletin Vol. 35, p.305, 1967), which includes a key to the species. This gives
G. meridionalis as having 'Runners only overground. Leaf-blades oblanceolate to obovate, acute to cuspidate', which indicates quite a bit of variation. Here is a good project for more investigation - will report back next year
(Schwarz by the way says that: 'When I first came across the Globe-Daisies in the wild I little thought that the genus would become the subject of my studies over a period of nearly a quarter of a century')
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