THE SOUTH AFRICAN GERBERAS. 



Baur, 525 ! Griqualand East ; on grassy slopes about Kokstad, 

 4300-5000 feet, Oct. 1882, Tyson, 466 ! 1529 ! Kalahari Region. 

 Transvaal; stony mountain-slopes near Lydenburg, Sept. 1895, 

 Wilms, 776 ? (burnt specimens) ; Oct. 1884, Wilms, 773 ! 

 Var. OBLONGiFOLiA, Dummer. 



Syn. Lasiopus viridifolius var. oblongifolius, De Candolle, I.e. 



Leaves thickly coriaceous, oblong or obovate-oblong, rounded at 

 the apex, ending abruptly in a short petiole, 2-3 J inches long (including 

 the petiole), |-f inch broad, almost glabrous at maturity. Achene 

 not densely appressedly bristly-haired, but with scattered minute 

 tubercles, and beaked. Pappus reddish. 



Distribution. Coast Region. Cathcart Div. ; grassy spots on the 

 Blesbok Flats near the Windvogel Berg, 3000 feet, Nov., Drege ! 



Var. Woodii,* Dummer. 



Leaves much larger than those of the type ; petiole semiterete, 

 brownish, 1-3 inches long, inconspicuously warted, sparingly pilose 

 or eventually glabrescent ; blade 3-5 inches long, i J-2f inches broad, 

 oblong or elliptic-oblong, cordate at the base, thinly coriaceous, 

 entirely glabrous on both sides at maturity, light green above, somewhat 

 paler below, the midrib and its six to seven pairs of lateral nerves, which 

 latter unite towards the margin and form an intramarginal band, very 

 well developed on the lower surface ; margin undulate and subsinuate, 

 minutely and irregularly warted-denticulate. Scape and flower-head 

 as in the type. Pappus white. Achene bristly haired. 



Were it not for its associations with Gerhera Jamesonii, this species 

 would scarcely have evoked the horticultural attention it has, for it 

 does not possess the beauty which would incite the average cultivator 

 to speak about it. It was a happy inspiration which led Mr. Lynch 

 to effect a union between it and G. Jamesonii, resulting in the sterling 

 race of hybrids as we now know them. 



Seeds of this species were obtained by Lynch from Mr. R. W. 

 Adlam in 1894, and in the following year it bloomed in the Cambridge 

 Botanic Gardens, specimens being sent to Kew for verification, which 

 now repos^ in the Herbarium. The species enjoys a fairly wide 

 distribution from the Albany District right up to the Transvaal, and 

 is represented in Natal by a finer-headed variety which I have 

 named Woodii. Marloth in his fascinating work on the Cape Flora 

 alludes to G. viridifolia as one of the few " green humus plants " occur- 



i ring in South Africa. After bush-fires the subsequent scapes are 



* exceedingly dwarfed and stunted. 



The variety Woodii is a welcome addition to the Gerberas, and from 

 a cultural standpoint superior to the type, from which it is at once dis- 

 tinguished by its much larger leaves, resembling in this respect the leaves 

 of G. glandulosa, by their glabridity, and by their cordate bases. It 



\ was collected by Director Medley Wood on a hill near Weenen in 



* G. viridifolia var. Woodii Diimmer. Var. nov. Typae persimilis, sed foliis 

 majoribus basi cordatis mox glaberrimis facile distinguenda. {Wood, 4458. 

 Herb. Kew.) 



