Bushbernie's Garden
White Alder
Species: Turnera subulata.
This is a clumping perennial herb, native to the West Indies, Florida, Brazil and Central America. It grows very well in tropic and sub-tropic regions.
The plant if often woody at the base, 30-80 cm high, frequently with a very strong taproot and with prostrate stems.
The stems are cylindrical, leafy over a considerable part of their length, and densely hairy. The leaves are bright green in colour, with dentate-serrate margins. They are ovate-elliptic or oblong-ovate in shape.
The pretty flowers, 4-5cm in diameter, are white to cream with a yellow halo around black centres, and borne in the higher leaf axils.
The plant is a persistent flowerer, with flowers opening around 8.00 am (in the tropics/sub-tropics) and closing by 11.00 am to noon.
It prefers full sun, and well-drained soil. Propagation is by stem cuttings, which strike easily.
