GERARDIA 



GESNERIA 



1333 



AA. Fls. rosy purple rarely varying to white. 



B. Height 1 ft. 



tenuifolia, Vahl. Height 1 ft. ; branching, paniculate: 

 Ivs. mostly narrowly linear: infl. racemose; corolla 

 J^in. long, light purple, spotted, sometimes white. 

 Low or dry ground, E. N. Amer. 



BB. Height 2-3 ft. 



linifolia, Nutt. Perennial: Ivs. erect, very narrowly 

 linear, 1 line wide: calyx-teeth minute; corolla 1 in. 

 long. Low pine-barrens, N. Amer. Not cult., but said 

 to be a parent with Pentstemon pulchellus of G. hybrida, 

 Hort. Intro, by Haage & Schmidt, 1899. The poor 

 cut in S. H. 2:485 seems nearer Pentstemon than Ger- 

 ardia. WILHELM MILLER. 



N. TAYLOR, f 



GERBERA (named in honor of Traug. Gerber, a 

 German naturalist who traveled in Russia). Compdsitse. 

 A small group of temperate and tropical Asiatic and 

 African perennial herbs grown for their yellow or pink 

 or orange flower-heads. 



1631. Gerbera Jamesonii. 



Stemless herbs with radical, petiofed Ivs. which are 

 entire or sometimes lobed: fl. -heads solitary, many-fld., 

 the conspicuous rays in 1 or 2 rows, those of the inner 

 row, when present, very short and sometimes tubular 

 and 2-lipped, as are the disk-fls. : achenes beaked. 

 There are 40 species, only one of which (G. Jamesonii) 

 is well known in Amer. and is sometimes found outside 

 the collections of botanic gardens and fanciers. They 

 should be grown in the temperate house, in a rich com- 

 post of sandy loam and peat. Prop, by seeds or by 

 cuttings of side shoots, 



Jamesonii, Hook. Fig. 1631. Hairy throughout, 

 the mature Ivs. very woolly beneath : Ivs. numerous, the 

 petiole 6-8 in. long, the blade 5-10 in., a little pinnati- 

 fid: heads solitary, the showy orange-flame-colored 

 rays strap-shaped. Transvaal. B.M. 7087. G.C. III. 

 5:773. Gn. 36:340. A.G. 22:345. Gt. 54:1545. G.W. 

 2, p. 2. R.H. 1903:36. Could be grown out- 



doors in the S. A brilliant summer-blooming com- 

 posite, more or less planted in the open. Var. trans- 

 vaalensis, Hort. Has larger fl.-heads than type, of 

 somewhat lighter color. Var. illustris, Hort. A robust 

 variety. 



G. aurantiaca, Sch. A handsome plant with fls. 2}/ in. diam.: 

 florets red, with bright yellow anthers. Natal and the Transvaal. 

 B.M. 8079. Has been listed under name of G. Elsse. G. canta- 

 brigiensis, Hort. A garden hybrid between G. Jamesonii and G. 

 viridifolia. G.M. 47 : 366, desc. G. viridifdlia, Sch., is a little-known 

 green-lvd. plant with showy fls. that are white on the upper side, 

 yellow beneath. S. Afr. Well worth growing in temperate house. 



N. TAYLOR. 



GESNERIA (Conrad Gesner, Zurich, 1516-1565, cele- 

 brated naturalist, and considered to be the originator of 

 the idea of genus in taxonomy). Gesneriaceae. Green- 

 house and hothouse plants with showy tubular flowers. 

 Sometimes written Gesnera. 



Low perennials, sometimes shrubs, with simple, 

 opposite Ivs. and showy tubular fls. in terminal short 

 panicles or fascicles: calyx campanulate, 5-parted; 

 corolla long, straight or curved, more or less ventricpse, 

 the base often distinctly swollen or gibbous, the limb 

 mostly shallow-toothed and nearly regular or bilab- 

 iate; stamens 4, didynamous (in pairs under the upper 

 lip); style 1, long; glands on the disk in the fl. Species 

 upward of 40, in the American tropics. Often tuberous 

 plants; allied to Achimenes, Gloxinia, Isoloma and 

 Streptocarpus. Some of the gesnerias of the trade 

 belong to Naegelia, which differs, amongst other things, 

 in having an annular or ringed disk rather than a disk 

 of distinct glands. There is considerable variation of 

 opinion as to the limits of Gesneria. In this account, 

 the genus is held to include Pentarhaphia, Duchartrea, 

 Codonoraphia, Conradia, Ophianthe, Synanthera. The 

 plants of this group are probably considerably modified 

 by crossing and breeding. The catalogue name G. 

 hybrida probably covers some of these forms. 



A. Los. green. 



cardinalis, Lehm. (Dircsea cardinalis, Regel. G. 

 macrdntha, Hort.). St. 6-12 in. high, stout, and hairy: 

 Ivs. large, cordate-ovate, crenatenientate, petioled: 

 fls. red, tubular, hairy, slender (2-3 in. long), the upper 

 lip projecting and the lower one almost wanting, borne 

 in a terminal, more or less flat cluster. Nativity 

 unknown. B.M. 8167. Gn. 42:232. A good species for 

 the stove. G. Duvalii, Hort., is evidently only a slen- 

 der form of this species. 



Hendersonii, Hort. Lvs. velvety green: fls. 3 in. long, 

 brilliant scarlet, in a large truss. Probably of garden 

 origin. 



longiflora, Hort., is a small-lvd. species, with 

 drooping, long-tubed nicotiana-like white fls. Gn. 

 33:340. The botanical position of this plant is in 

 doubt. It is not the G. longiflora, HBK., which is pur- 

 ple-fld., nor G. longiflora, DC., which is Achimenes 

 longiflora. By some it has been confounded with 

 Isoloma longifolium, Decne. Pentarhaphia longiflora, 

 Lindl. (Gesneria ventricosa, Swartz), is a small some- 

 what branched shrub: Ivs. ovate-lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acuminate and serrulate, pale green beneath : 

 fls. bright scarlet, 1^ in. long, in long-peduncled cymes; 

 corolla-tube somewhat curved, narrowed toward the 

 base; stamens red, much exserted. W. Indies. B.M. 

 7339. A good summer- and autumn-blooming stove 

 shrub. 



AA. Lvs. richly colored, at least beneath. 



libanensis, Morr. (Pentarhdphia libanensis, Hanst. 

 Rhytidophyllum floribundum, Van Houtte. Ophidnthe 

 libanensis, Hanst.). Subshrub, but only a few inches 

 high, simple or slightly branched : Ivs. more or less 

 rosulate toward top of st., 3-4 in. long, obovate-lanceo- 

 late, more or less blistered, toothed: fls. bright red, 

 half as long as Ivs., tubular, puffed or swollen in the 

 middle, hairy, the mouth oblique and the limb of 5 



