674 



NOTES ON SOME OF THE PLANTS INTRODUCED 



INTO THE VICTORIA GARDENS, BOMBAY, 



DURING THE PAST 8 YEARS. 



By Cavasji D. Mahaluxmivala. 



Pakt IV. 



(Read before the Natural History Society of Bombay on 

 16th June 1904.) 



51. Gerbera Jamesoni,* Bolus (Composite). — The Barberton or 

 Transvaal Daisy. It is a dwarf herbaceous perennial native of the 

 temperate or mountainous regions of South Africa. The leaves are 

 large, radical, leathery, dark green, arranged in a rosette, runcinately 

 pin natifid and toothed. The flower heads are solitary, on a long naked 

 and partially nodding stalk, resembling annual chrysanthemums in size 

 and shape. The ray florets are dull yellow beneath and bright orange 

 or flame coloured above. It has been flowering irregularly throughout 

 the year, being found in flower in January, March, July, &c. The 

 plant was purchased in January 1898 from the Agri-Horticultural 

 Society of India, Calcutta, and thrives well in the conservatory, but 

 not so well in the open border, as it cannot, bear direct exposure to the 

 sun, especially in the hot weather. It can be propagated from seeds and 

 by side-shoots, but is found difficult to propagate as it does not seed or 

 very scantily, and the side shoots are very few and produced at very 

 long intervals. 



52. Wormia Burbidgei t Hook. f. (DilleniacEjE). — It is said 

 to be a tree of Borneo, but the plant I have lately got appears to be 

 a shrub, is not more than a foot high and has already flowered. The 

 leaves are large, elliptic, the base of the leaves running down to the 

 winged petiole which clasps the stem at the base. The flowers are pale 

 golden yellow, about 3 inches in diameter, with white stamens in many 

 series. It is said to be propagated from seeds and with some difficulty 

 from cuttings, but the plant in the gardens is yet too small for pro- 

 pagation. It was received in exchange from the Superintendent, Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Calcutta, in February 1903, and has produced a few 

 flowers in June and July. 



* The genus is named in honour of Mr, Gerber, a German naturalist, and the specific name 

 after Mr. R. Jameson who is said to have discovered the variety in Transvaal, near 

 Barberton, in 1887. 



t The genus is named after Olaus Wormius, a famous Danish philosopher and naturalist, 

 and the specific name after Burbidge. 



