Chironia is a beautiful African genus in the gentian family, Gentianaceae, made up of annual and perennial herbs or sub-shrubs prized for their clear, luminous flowers and often neat, fine-textured growth. Kew records the genus as native to Tropical and Southern Africa, while SANBI describes it as containing about 30 species spread through tropical and subtropical Africa and Madagascar, with 16 species occurring in southern Africa. The name Chironia comes from Chiron of Greek mythology, the wise centaur associated with healing and herbal knowledge, which gives the genus an especially evocative botanical backstory. In the garden, many species are admired for their open, starry flowers and long flowering display, and in nature they occur in a surprisingly wide range of habitats, from damp marshy ground and stream edges to sandy flats and other seasonally moist sites.

Chironia palustris commonly known as Cerise stars, is a South African indigenous species found in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. Chironia palustris is an erect perennial herb, up to 80cm high, that is clump forming and prefers a marshy spot. It sprouts annually from a woody rootstock. The leaves are bluish green and the star-like flowers a cerise pink. Chironia palustris makes a spectacular display if interplanted with other wetland species and grasses.