pretty in pink...

...is this huge and gorgeous Gerbera.
The first scientific description was of a Transvaal or Barberton daisy from South Africa in 1889.
On a five day road trip through wildflower country in South Africa in a teeny yet surprisingly sturdy! Toyota Yaris some years ago these  were still growing wild and free in the veldt. The land was flower painted in swatches of colours that challenged a rainbow!
Now they are the the fifth most popular cultivated flower (behind the rose,carnation, chrysanthemum and tulip) in a mind boggling array of colours.