Bietou

Boneseed is a perennial, woody, upright shrub, growing to 3 m (9.8 ft), although occasionally taller. It is a member of the Asteraceae (daisy) family and has showy, bright yellow flowers in swirls of 5–8 'petals' (ray florets) up to 30 mm (1.2 in) in diameter. Fruit are berry-like, spherical at around 8 mm in diameter, and turn dark-brown to black with a bone-coloured seed inside of 6–7 mm diameter. Leaves are 2–6 cm (0.79–2.36 in) long by 1.5–5 cm (0.59–1.97 in) wide, oval tapering to the base with irregularly serrate margins. Bitou bush can be distinguished from boneseed in part due to its more rounded sprawling habit to 1.5–2 m (4.9–6.6 ft), less noticeably toothy leaf margins and seeds that are egg-like rather than spherical. Both boneseed and bitou bush hybridise readily, however, so examples of plants demonstrating a fusion of traits is possible. O. moniliferum has been shown to need pollinators in order to reproduce.

Osteospermum moniliferum occurs naturally in coastal areas of South Africa, reaching into Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and southern Mozambique. Subspecies rotundatum is concentrated along the eastern coast of South Africa from its southern tip through KwaZulu-Natal to southern Mozambique. Subspecies moniliferum is concentrated around Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula on South Africa's south western coast, where its native habitats include the Cape Flats Dune Strandveld. Subspecies canescens is native to Kwazulu-Natal, the Northern Provinces, and Free State of South Africa and to Lesotho. Subspecies septentrionale is native to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and the Northern Provinces.