Dicoma Genus

Dicoma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae (order Asterales), described by the French botanist Henri Cassini in 1817. Plants of the World Online recognized 33 species as of 2023, while GBIF's taxonomic backbone lists 45 accepted taxa in the genus; recognized synonymous genera include Cryptostephane, Cullumiopsis, Nitelium, Hochstetteria, Tibestina, Brachyachenium and Cypselodontia.

The genus is native to Africa and the Middle East, with a further record from Madagascar. About 16 species occur in southern Africa alone, where Dicoma tomentosa is the most widely distributed species across the continent and D. anomala the second-most widespread. The genus name derives from the Greek di ("two") and kome ("tuft of hair"), a reference to the double row of bristles that make up the pappus — a feature shared across the genus and thought to aid wind dispersal of the seed.

The best-documented species, D. anomala, illustrates the genus's typical form: a prostrate to erect perennial herb growing from a woody rootstock with an underground tuber, its stiff, sharply-pointed floral bracts surrounding tubular florets in white, mauve, purple or pink. It grows in stony grassland, hillside and savanna habitats across sub-Saharan Africa. Known locally as "fever bush" or "stomach bush," it has a long history of use in traditional medicine across multiple southern African cultures, for ailments ranging from fever and stomach complaints to wounds — though this level of documented use appears specific to D. anomala rather than reported genus-wide.