Mountain Daisy - Osmitopsis asteriscoides
Mountain Daisy - Osmitopsis asteriscoides

Common names: mountain daisy, swamp daisy (English); bels, belskruie, belsbos, belsebos, belsbossie, belsebossie (Afrikaans). 
Botanical name: Osmitopsis asteriscoides

Osmitopsis asteriscoides, commonly known as swamp daisy or bels, is a medicinal herb native to the Western Cape of South Africa. It has aromatic leaves with a camphor-like smell and white and yellow daisy flowers that bloom in spring and summer. It grows in wetlands and seeps on sandstone soils, and attracts bees and other insects as pollinators. The leaves have been used for centuries to treat various ailments, such as coughs, fevers, stomach ache, and inflammation. The plant contains eucalyptol, camphor, and other compounds with antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It is easy to grow from seed or cuttings in damp or boggy areas of the garden, where it forms dense stands of up to 2 m in height.

Uses & Benefits: aromatic, medicine, ponds & ecopools, tea, wetlands


Nature & Cultivation

Family: Asteraceae
Type: shrub
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Flower colour: white
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Plant-animal interactions: bees
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Use as Medicine

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