; AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
GAZANIA (named in honour of Theodore Gaza, 
1393-1478, a learned Greek. translator of the botanical 
works of Theophrastus into Latin). Syns. Mehnia and 
Mussinia. ORD. Composite. A genus comprising twenty- 
fonr species of very showy plants, natives of the Cape 
of Good Hope. Flower-heads large and handsome, with 
yellow strap-shaped ray-florets and tubular disk-florets, 
usually of a darker colour. Leaves alternate or radical, 
entire or pinnatisect. Gazanias are of easy culture, in 
a cool greenhouse, or in the open border, in summer. } A 
compost of loam and peat is most suitable. Propagation 
is rapidly effected, in July or August, by cuttings, made 
from the side shoots near the base of the plant; these 
_ should be inserted in sandy soil, and in a close frame. 
G. Pavonia (peacock).* _jl.-heads large, handsome; ray-florets 
with brown spot at the base, or white central dot, and a green 
tinge. July. Z er hairy. h. 14ft. 1864. A very hand- 
some plant. (B. R. 35.) 
G, rigens (stiff). /l.-heads brilliant golden colour, with an interior 
black velvet band. June. l. linear, spathulate, hairy. A. lft. 
1755, (B. M. 90.) From this and G. uniflora, the several garden 
_ varieties have been raised. 
G.splendens (splendid).* /l.-heads large ; ray-florets bright orange, 
swith a black ond white spot at the base of each; disk paler, 
l. linear-spathulate, silky, white beneath. A. 1sft. A very 
handsome and much-grown trailer, of supposed hybrid origin. 
G. uniflora (one-flowered).* fl.-heads yellow ; ray-florets same 
colour as disk. July and August. J. spathulate-1 late, downy 
beneath. Stem shrubby, decumbent. A. lft. 1816. (B. M. 2270.) 
GEAN. The wild Cherry, Cerasus Avium (which 
see). : ; : 
GEASTER. In the southern parts of England, 
Earth Stars—for so the species of Geaster are called— 
are now and then found in shrubberies. Some of them 
are extremely sensitive to moisture, and are driven 
Fic. 90. GEASTER HYGROMETRICUS. 
about by the wind as shapeless masses (see Fig. 90, a), 
till the first shower expands them, as in Fig. 90, b. 
GEBLERA. Included under Securinega. 
GEERIA. A synonym of Eurya (which see). 
GEISSOIS (from geisson, house-tiling; the seeds are 
imbricated like the tiles on a honse). ORD. Savifragee. 
A genus comprising about four species of stove evergreen 
trees, natives of New Caledonia, the Fiji Islands, and 
Australia. G. racemosa, perhaps the only species yet 
introduced, is a handsome tree, requiring a very sandy 
loam, to which a small quantity of peat may be added. 
Cuttings root if inserted in sand, under a hand glass, in 
heat. 
G. racemosa (racemose). fl. crimson; racemes axillary, many- 
flowered, solitary, or in threes, pon from the old wood. 
l. opposite, petiolate, quinate; leaflets elliptic, obtnse, quite 
entire ; — oblong, ribbed, undivided. A, 20ft. 
donia, 185 
GEISSOMERIA (froin geisson, a tile, and meris, a 
part; the imbricated bracts fall over each other like tiles 
on a roof), Syn. Salpixantha. ORD. Acanthacee: A 
genus containing about ten species of stove evergreen, 
pubescent or glabrous shrubs, of which one is from 
Jamaica and the rest from Brazil or Guiana. Flowers 
red, often velvety, long, in simple terminal spikes or 
paniculate racemes; calyx five-parted; corolla tubular, 
dilated upwards. Leaves oval or oblong, entire. Stems 
Vol. Tt. 
New Cale- 
Sumatra, and the third from China. Flowers yellow, 
i 
w: 
OF HORTICULTURE. 57 
Geissomeria—continued. 
tetragonal. The plants thrive in a compost of loam and 
peat, with the addition of sand and a little rotten cow- 
dung. Cuttings, procured from rather firm shoots, root 
easily during summer, if inserted in sandy soil, covered 
with a bell glass, and placed in bottom heat. The 
species best known to cultivation are those described 
below. 
G. coccinea (scarlet).* fl. scarlet, sessile, decussate in loose 
— peduncles axillary, solitary, pendulous, or terminal by 
threes, August. 1, ovate, coriaceous, entire. A. 3ft. Jamaica, 
1842, (B. M. 4158, under name of Salpixantha coccinea.) 
G. longiflora (long-flowered). /l., corolla scarlet, tubular, velvety, 
with an arcuate, clavate, somewhat ventricose tube, which is 
smooth inside ; spikes terminal and axillary, October. l oppo- 
site, ovate-lanceolate, wavy, sessile, tapering to the base, smooth 
above, somewhat pubescent beneath, silky at the veins. A. 3ft. 
Brazil, 1826. A splendid free-flowering plant. (B. R. 1045.) 
GEISSORHIZA (from geisson, a tile, and rhiza, a 
root; referring to the dry coats which cover the bulbs, 
like the tiles on a roof), Tile Root. Orp. Iridew. A 
genus of about twenty-four species of very pretty green- 
house or half-hardy bulbous plants, natives, for the 
most part, of the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers Ixia- 
like, variable in colour, very showy; perianth funnel- 
shaped, with a short tube, and an ample, six-parted, 
nearly equal limb. Leaves narrow, setaceous, or sword- 
shaped. Bulbs covered by the scarious remains of the 
bases of the leaves, which lie over each other like the 
tiles of a roof, and hence the common name. For cul- 
ture, see Galaxia. ‘The following are a selection of 
the species usually seen in cultivation: 
G. excisa (abrupt-leaved). jl. white. Apriland May. l, radical 
ones ovate-oblong. A. 6in. 1789. (B. M. 684, under name of 
Ixia excisa.) 
G. grandis (large-flowered).* fl. inclined; perianth segments pale 
straw-coloured, with a blood-red midrib, — — obtuse, 
patent; spike six to eight-flowered, May. l. radical, linear- 
ensiform, obtuse, green, strongly ribbed towards the base. Stem 
stout, leafy throughout. 1868. (B. M. 5877.) 
G. inflexa (bending).*. /. very large and handsome; perianth 
oped ga tnbe very short, slender at the base; segments of a 
right yellow, each marked at the base with an obcordate dark 
pape or velvet spot. May. l. ensiform, acute, falcate, or ob- 
iquely bent. A. 1jft. 1824. One of the handsomest species. of 
the genus; closely allied to G. obtusata. SYN. G. vaginata. 
(5. B. F. G. 138.) 
G. obtusata (blunt). fl. yellow. May. L, radical ones en- 
siform-linear, obtuse. h. 1ft. 1801. (B. M. 672.) 
G. Rochensis (De la Roche’s).* jl. blue, crimson-spo' centre 
May. J. radical, linear, acute. Stem smooth. h. Qin. 1790. 
(B. M. 598, under name of Ixia Rochensis.) 
L 
G. secunda (side-flowering). ——— t * ones 
linear-acute. Stem villous, 
name of Ivia secunda.) : : : 
© pradieal ones bristly. Stei simple, fow-fowered. "he te, 1508, 
(B. M. 1255.) : — 
G. vaginata (sheathed). A synonym of G. inflexa. 
GELASINE (from gelasinos, a smiling dimple; a 
poetic allusion to the delicacy of the flowers), Orp. 
Iridee. G. azurea is a pretty hardy bulbous plant, 
native of South America. For culture, &c., see Romu- 
lea. 
G. azurea (blue). A. blue; petals dotted with white and black at 
base ; spathe many-flowered, shorter than peduncles ; peduncles 
clasi closely by three or four bracts, May. l, plicate, l4ft. to 
2ft. long. A. 1838. (B. M. 3779.) 
GELONIUM. This genus is now included, by the 
authors of the “Genera Plantarum,” under Ratonia 
(which see). 
GELSEMIEÆ. A tribe of Loganiaceæ. 
GELSEMIUM (from Gelsemino, an Italian name of 
the Jessamine). Syns. Leptopteris and Medicia. Orp. 
Loganiacee. A genus comprising three species of twining 
glabrous shrubs, one from North America, another from 
re 
showy ; corolla infundibuliform ; tube sub-cylindrical ; 
throat dilated. Leaves opposite, membranaceous. G. sem- 
‘pervirens, the only species yet known to cultivation, is a 
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