Gerbera
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 Close up of a white gerbera
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- See also Daisy (disambiguation)
Gerbera L. is a genus of ornamental plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). It was named in honor of the German naturalist Traugott Gerber, a friend of Carolus Linnaeus.
It has approximately 30 species in the wild, extending to South America, Africa, Madagascar, and tropical Asia. The first scientific description of a Gerbera was made by Joseph Dalton Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889 when he described Gerbera jamesonii, a South African species also known as Transvaal daisy or Barberton Daisy.
Gerbera species bear a large capitulum with striking, two-lipped ray florets in yellow, orange, white, pink or red colors. The capitulum, which has the appearance of a single flower, is actually composed of hundreds of individual flowers. The morphology of the flowers varies depending on their position in the capitulum.
Gerbera is very popular and widely used as a decorative garden plant or as cut flowers. The domesticated cultivars are mostly a result of a cross between Gerbera jamesonii and another South African species Gerbera viridifolia. The cross is known as Gerbera hybrida. Thousands of cultivars exist. They vary greatly in shape and size. Colors include white, yellow, orange, red, and pink. The center of the flower is sometimes black. Often the same flower can have petals of several different colors.
Gerbera is commercially important. It is the fifth most used cut flower in the world (after rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, and tulip). It is also used as a model organism in studying flower formation. Gerbera contains naturally occurring coumarin derivatives.
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 Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) |
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[edit] Species
- Gerbera aberdarica
- Gerbera abyssinica
- Gerbera ambigua
- Gerbera anandria : Ghostly Daisy
- Gerbera anandria var. anandria
- Gerbera anandria var. densiloba
- Gerbera anandria var. integripetala
- Gerberia anadria var. bonatiana
- Gerbera aspleniifolia
- Gerbera aurantiaca : Hilton Daisy
- Gerbera bojeri
- Gerbera bonatiana
- Gerbera bracteata
- Gerbera brevipes
- Gerbera burchellii
- Gerbera burmanni
- Gerbera candollei
- Gerbera cavaleriei
- Gerbera chilensis
- Gerbera cineraria
- Gerbera connata
- Gerbera conrathii
- Gerbera cordata
- Gerbera coronopifolia
- Gerbera curvisquama
- Gerbera delavayi
- Gerbera discolor
- Gerbera diversifolia
- Gerbera elegans
- Gerbera elliptica
- Gerbera emirnensis
- Gerbera ferruginea
- Gerbera flava
- Gerbera galpinii
- Gerbera glandulosa
- Gerbera henryi
- Gerbera hieracioides
- Gerbera hirsuta
- Gerbera hypochaeridoides
- Gerbera integralis
- Gerbera integripetala
- Gerbera jamesonii : Barberton Daisy, Gerbera Daisy, Transvaal Daisy
- Gerbera knorringiana
- Gerbera kokanica
- Gerbera kraussii
- Gerbera kunzeana
- Gerbera lacei
- Gerbera lagascae
- Gerbera lanuginosa
- Gerbera lasiopus
- Gerbera latiligulata
- Gerbera leandrii
- Gerbera leiocarpa
- Gerbera leucothrix
- Gerbera lijiangensis
- Gerbera lynchii
- Gerbera macrocephala
- Gerbera nepalensis
- Gerbera nervosa
- Gerbera nivea
- Gerbera parva
- Gerbera peregrina
- Gerbera perrieri
- Gerbera petasitifolia
- Gerbera piloselloides
- Gerbera plantaginea
- Gerbera plicata
- Gerbera podophylla
- Gerbera pterodonta
- Gerbera pulvinata
- Gerbera pumila
- Gerbera randii
- Gerbera raphanifolia
- Gerbera ruficoma
- Gerbera saxatilis
- Gerbera semifloscularis
- Gerbera serotina
- Gerbera speciosa
- Gerbera tanantii
- Gerbera tomentosa
- Gerbera tuberosa
- Gerbera uncinata
- Gerbera viridifolia
- Gerbera welwitschii
- Gerbera wrightii
[edit] References
- Hansen, Hans V. - A taxonomic revision of the genus Gerbera (Compositae, Mutisieae) sections Gerbera, Parva, Piloselloides (in Africa), and Lasiopus (Opera botanica. - No. 78; 1985) - ISBN 87-88702-04-9
- Nesom, G.L. 2004. Response to "The Gerbera complex (Asteraceae, Mutisieae): to split or not to split" by Liliana Katinas. Sida 21:941-942.
- Bremer K. 1994: Asteraceae: cladistics and classification. Timber Press: Portland, Oregon
[edit] External links
- Gerbera.org - official website of the Gerbera Association - established in Barberton, South Africa
- Traugott-Gerber-Museum, Germany (German)
- Florist De Kwakel BV - worldwide portal for gerbera with over 350 varieties - Dutch breeder of Gerbera
