Tas. 8079. 
GERBERA avrantiaca. 
A native of Natal and the Transvaal, 
Composit#:—Tribe Moristacea. 
GERBERA, Gronov.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p. 497. 
Gerbera aurantiaca, Sch. Bip. in Flora, vol. xxvii. p. 781; Harv. & Sond. 
Fl. Cap. vol. iii. p. 523; affinis G. Jamesoni, Bolus, differt foliis integris et 
foribus radii numerosioribus pulchre sanguineis. 
Herba acaulis; rhizoma collo densissime sericeo-villoso. Folia radicalia, 
adscendentia, 5-10 poll. longa, 1-2 poll. lata, oblanceolata vel elongato- 
oblongo-lanceolata, acuta, basi in petiolum $-2 poll. longum longe an- 
gustata, integra, obscure denticulata vel crenata, supra plus minusve 
pubescentia, subtus araneo-albo-tomentosa vel fere glabra. Pedunculus 
solitarius, 44-16 poll. longus, araneo-albo-tomentosus. Capitulum 2-3 
poll. diam. ; involucri squaamz numerose ; interiores 7-9 lin. longs, exte- 
riores breviores, lanceolate, acuminate, albo-tomentose. H/ores omnes 
bilabiati; flores radii lobo ligulato 1-1} poll. longo 1-2 lin. lato lineari 
lanceolato, acuto vel 2-3-dentato sanguineo subtus luteo, lobis 4 minimis 
linearibus tortis sanguineis; flores disci 5 lin. longi, lobis 2 liberis, 3 
connatis linearibus revolutis fusco-purpureis. Anthere caudate, lutex. 
Stigma exsertum, subclavatum, bilobum, luteum, Achznia puberula. 
Pappi sete violaceo-purpures. 
This pretty plant is allied to the better-known G. 
Jamesoni, figured at t. 7087, differing from that species 
in its entire leaves and the rich blood-red colour of its 
more numerous and more crowded ray florets. G. awran- 
tiaca is a native of Natal and the Transvaal, where it 
grows at an elevation of 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea- 
level. It was originally discovered by Krauss on a hill 
near Pietermaritzburg, where .subsequent collectors have 
also found it, and it is remarkable that such a beautiful plant 
should not have been introduced from such a frequented 
locality into cultivation long ago. This species and noe 
Jamesoni appear to be the only two of the genus intro- 
duced into European gardens, although there are about 50 
known natives of South and Tropical Africa, Madagascar, 
and Temperate and Tropical Asia. The plant figured was 
purchased from M. Max Leichtlin, who states that it was 
introduced from Natal by a daughter of Baron Saint Paul, 
and it flowered at Kew in June, 1905. It is probably 
half-hardy, but as the region in which it grows has a very 
JuNE Ist, 1906, 
