206 
FLORA AND SYLVA 
GERBERA, WITH A COLOURED 
PLATE OF THE NEW HYBRIDS.* 
Gerbera is the name for a small group 
of composite plants from the temperate 
and mountain regions of Asia, Africa, 
and South America, containing only 
about a score of kinds and those mostly 
without ornamental value. The best- 
known is G. yamesoni^ also known as 
the Transvaal or Barberton Daisy , found 
by Rehman about 1878 and subsequent- 
ly by a Mr. Jameson near Barberton, and 
elsewhere by other travellers in the 
Transvaal and Natal. Brought to this 
country in 1887 it flowered with Mr. 
Tillett of Norwich and later at Kew, 
where the glowing scarlet of its flowers 
attracted instant attention. The wild 
plants vary in colour from rich red to 
coral-pink and yellow, as in the form 
named Sir Michael^ sent from Natal 
by Mr. W. R. Adlam. 
The plantisastemless evergreen per- 
ennial throwing a rosette of leaves from 
a thick woody rootstock, which lives to 
a great age, increasing slowly by side- 
shoots and striking deep with its fleshy 
tap-roots. The plant is averse to re- 
moval and should therefore be well 
planted at first in a sunny and sheltered 
spot and light warm soil. Where the 
soil is poor it may be improved by adding 
a little leaf-mould, but nothing is better 
than a good free loam, though some 
growers have secured good results from 
plants grown almost entirely in sand, 
and watered from time to time with 
liquid manure when in full growth. 
The leaves are 10 to 12 inches long 
and shaped like those of a Dandelion 
or Francoa, being deeply lobed, more 
or less hairy above and beneath, and 
rich dark green when in full luxuriance. 
The plants bloom through a long season, 
beginning early and continuing into 
October, the solitary flame-coloured 
flowers measuring 3 to 5 inches across, 
and, though not very numerous at any 
one time, they last fresh for a long while 
and succeed one another without inter- 
ruption. They stand high above the 
leaves on long bare stems which vary 
in length, with the age and vigour of the 
plant, from i to 3 feet. The ray-florets 
or ligules are very long, narrow, and 
pointed, closing partially during bad 
weather in newly opened flowers, and 
though after a few days they become 
less sensitive, their full beauty is only 
seen in bright sunlight. The rarity of 
the plant after nearly twenty years of 
cultivation is due to difliculty in keep- 
ing it in health when its needs are not 
fully understood, and also to its increase 
so far not having been rapid. Seeds 
and offsets are the only means of pro- 
I pagation, for though root-division is 
! possible it is a mistake to disturb well- 
established plants. Seeds are easily ob- 
tained if pollen is brought from another 
plant, though singleplantsarecommon- 
ly sterile. Sown in gentle heat early in 
the year the seeds soon germinate and 
the little plants may be planted out or 
potted on by the end of May and often 
showflowerin the second season, though 
they are not at their best until the third 
year. Young offsets detached with a 
heel will strike easily in bottom heat, 
but this is slow work, for side-shoots 
are few and the young plants made in 
this way are less satisfactory. 
* From a drawing by H. G. Moon in the Cambridge Botanic Gardens. 
