''Gerbera'' ( or ) L. is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of plants in the

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

(Compositae) family. The first scientific description of a ''Gerbera'' was made by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889 when he described '' Gerbera jamesonii'', a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n species also known as '' Transvaal daisy'' or ''Barberton daisy''. Gerbera is also commonly known as the African daisy.

Etymology

The genus was named in honour of German botanist and medical doctor (1710–1743), who travelled extensively in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and was a friend of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

Description

''Gerbera'' species are tufted, caulescent,

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbs, often with woolly crown, up to 80 cm high. Leaves are all in rosette, elliptical with entire or toothed margin or lobed, petiolate or with a petaloid base, pinnately veined, often leathery and felted beneath. Single to several flowering stems from each rosette bear

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

eate or ebracteate, simple, one-headed inflorescence- capitulum. Capitula are radiate, with several rows of bracts. Ray

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

s are female, 2-lipped, the outer lip is large and strap-shaped, inner lip consists of two small, thread-like lobes of white, pink or red, rarely yellow colour. Disc florets are fertile, five-lobed and irregularly 2-lipped with curled petals.

Species

Formerly included numerous species once considered members of ''Gerbera'' are now placed in other genera: '' Chaptalia'', ''

Leibnitzia ''Leibnitzia'' (sunbonnets) is a genus of Asian and North American flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The genus is named for Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), German scientist and mathematician ; SpeciesMairia'', '' Perdicium'', '' Trichocline'', and '' Oreoseris''. In accordance with

International Plant Names Index The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...

genus ''Gerbera'' includes 22 accepted species:

Section ''Gerbera''

* '' Gerbera crocea'' Kuntze — Dialstee * '' Gerbera grandis'' J.C.Manning & Simka * '' Gerbera linnaei'' Cass. — Varingblom * '' Gerbera ovata'' J.C.Manning & Simka * '' Gerbera serrata'' Druce * '' Gerbera tomentosa'' DC. * '' Gerbera wrightii'' Harv.

Section ''Lasiopus'' (Cass.) Sch.Bip.

* '' Gerbera ambigua'' Sch.Bip. * '' Gerbera aurantiaca'' Sch.Bip. — Hilton daisy * '' Gerbera galpinii'' Klatt — Galpin's gerbera * '' Gerbera jamesonii'' Bolus — Barberton daisy, Gerbera daisy, Transvaal daisy * '' Gerbera sylvicola''

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

, N.R.Crouch & T.J.Edwards * '' Gerbera viridifolia'' (DC.) Sch.Bip. — Pink gerbera

Section ''Pseudoseris'' (Baill.) Jeffr.

* '' Gerbera bojeri'' Sch.Bip. — Bojer's gerbera * '' Gerbera diversifolia''

Humbert Humbert, Umbert or Humberto (Latinized ''Humbertus'') is a Germanic given name, from ''hun'' "warrior" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also came into use as a surname. Given name ;Royalty and Middle Ages * Emebert (died 710) * Humbert of Maroilles ...

* '' Gerbera elliptica'' Humbert * '' Gerbera emirnensis''

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

* '' Gerbera hypochaeridoides'' Baker * '' Gerbera leandrii'' Humbert * '' Gerbera perrieri'' Humbert * '' Gerbera petasitifolia'' Humbert

Section ''Parva'' H.V.Hansen

* '' Gerbera parva'' N.E.Br. File:Gerbera viridifolia 1DS-II 3-0777.jpg, ''Gerbera viridifolia'' File:Gerbera jamesonii (Asteraceae).jpg, '' Gerbera jamesonii'' File:Gerbera ambigua.jpg, '' Gerbera ambigua'' File:Hilton Daisy.jpg, '' Gerbera aurantiaca'' File:Gerbera wrightii 1DS-II 2-4140.jpg, ''Gerbera wrightii'' File:Gerbera × hybrida 01.JPG, ''Gerbera'' × ''hybrida'' File:Orange Gerbera growing in a pot in Calcutta.jpg, ''Gerbera'' × ''hybrida'' File:Gerbera daisy orange002.jpg, ''Gerbera'' × ''hybrida''

Distribution

''Gerbera'' is native to tropical regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. It was introduced into countries of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Uses

''Gerbera'' is very popular and widely used as a decorative garden plant or as

cut flowers Cut flowers are flowers and flower buds (often with some Plant stem, stem and leaf) that have been cut from the plant bearing it. It is removed from the plant for decorative use. Cut greens are leaves with or without stems added to the cut flow ...

. The domesticated cultivars are mostly a result of a cross between '' Gerbera jamesonii'' and another

n species '' Gerbera viridifolia''. The cross is known as ''Gerbera × hybrida''. Thousands of

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s exist. They vary greatly in shape and size. Colours include white, yellow, orange, red, and pink. The centre of the flower is sometimes black. Often the same flower can have

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s of several different colours. The flower-heads (capitula) can be as small as 7 cm (Gerbera 'mini Harley') in diameter or up to 12 cm (Gerbera ‘Golden Serena’). ''Gerbera'' is also important commercially. It is the fifth most used cut flower in the world (after

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums ( ), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia, and the center of diversity is in China. Co ...

, and

tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...

). It is also used as a

model organism A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mo ...

in studying flower formation. ''Gerbera'' contains naturally occurring coumarin derivatives. It is attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds, but resistant to deer. Small ones are called gerbrinis.

References

Sources

* 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), . * 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.

External links

Gerbera.org
��official website of the Gerbera Association—established in Barberton, South Africa

Germany (German) {{Authority control Asteraceae genera Garden plants Mutisieae