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Botanical name |
Dicoma anomala subsp. cirsioides |
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Other names |
Maagwortel or maagbitterwortel (Afrikaans) |
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Family |
Asteraceae |
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Dimensions |
Perennial low-growing herb with several erect stems from a woody rootstock |
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Description of stem |
Several erect stems emanate from the central rootstock; the stems are ribbed; |
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Description of leaves |
Narrowly linear to lanceolate leaves, recurving, approximately 2 cm wide, dark green upper surface, whitish and woolly below |
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Description of flowers |
Flowers cup to cone-shaped, cream to pinkish with a woolly appearance of the disc-florets; the pinkish bracts surrounding each composite flower are prickly, sharp points, not spreading at the tips |
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Description of seed/fruit |
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Description of roots |
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Variation |
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Propagation and cultivation |
Rarely cultivated? |
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Tolerances |
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Uses |
The root is widely used medicinally; decoctions are used to treat various stomach and chest complaints, as well venereal diseases; it also serve in the treatment of toothache, ringworm and fever conditions; the stems have been used by bushmen in bowmaking for hunting and as firewood |
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Ecological rarity |
Common |
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Pests and diseases |
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Other |
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Location |
Stony, open grassland, also in harshly exposed conditions |
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Distribution (SA provinces) |
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Country |
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Dicoma anomala subsp. cirsioides
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