Botanical atlas

Twinspur

Diascia barberae

Diascia barberae carries no folk medicine or culinary history that we know of. It earned its keep in gardens rather than apothecaries, first collected in the mountains of what is now KwaZulu-Natal in the nineteenth century and named for Mrs. Barber, a South African botanical illustrator and plant collector who helped bring it to the attention of European horticulturists. Since then it has traveled from wild grassland slopes into cottage gardens and hanging baskets around the world, valued simply for the cheerful abundance of its coral pink blooms. Its story is a gardener's story, not a healer's, and we tell it here for that honest reason.

Safety.

Diascia barberae has no documented history of food or medicinal use, and no reliable toxicity or edibility data exists for it either. Because of that, it should be treated as an ornamental plant only, not eaten or brewed, and kept out of the reach of pets and small children who might be tempted to sample garden flowers, as a general precaution with any unstudied plant. If you have questions about a plant you or a family member may have ingested, please contact a poison control center or a qualified healthcare professional right away rather than relying on a general reference like this one.