A Canary Island Daisy Remade as a Florists Plant

The cineraria of the florist is Pericallis hybrida, a garden hybrid of the daisy family raised from wild Pericallis species of the Canary Islands and Madeira, where they grow in the laurel forest and on rocky slopes. The plant has moved genus more than once in the botanical literature, having been placed at various times in Cineraria and Senecio before settling in Pericallis, which is why the common name no longer matches any accepted botanical name.

Selection in European nurseries from the later eighteenth century onward produced the dense, dome-shaped pot plant now sold in late winter: a mound of broad soft leaves under a solid sheet of daisy flowers in blues, violets, magentas and reds, each floret ringed about a paler eye. It is grown as an annual, flowers once and is discarded, and its whole horticultural point is a short and intense display of colour in the coldest and dullest part of the year.