''Pericallis cruenta'' ( syns. ''Senecio cruentus'' and ''Cineraria cruenta'') is a species of flowering plant in the family

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 ...

, native to

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third-smallest of the archipelago's eight main islands. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La Gomer ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

islands of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. It has a nonwoody growth form and is typically found growing in Tenerife's laurel forests. With ''

Pericallis lanata ''Pericallis lanata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands. File:Pericallis 89F09.jpg, Flower head A pseudanthium (; : pseudanthia) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The wor ...

'' it is a parent of the widely cultivated garden plant ''

Pericallis × hybrida ''Pericallis'' × ''hybrida'', known as cineraria, florist's cineraria or common ragwort is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It originated as a hybrid between ''Pericallis cruenta'' and '' P. lanata'', both natives of the Canary Island ...

'', the florist's cineraria. In the past, and continuing today, there has been confusion and debate about the identity and origin of ''Pericallis'' × ''hybrida'', with ''Pericallis cruenta'' being incorrectly called a 'feral'

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form may also refer to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

of the florist's cineraria. In 1895 in a series of letters and articles in ''

The Gardeners' Chronicle ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'' was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine '' Horticulture Week''. History Founded in 1841 by the horticulturists Jose ...

'' and ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'',

William Turner Thiselton-Dyer Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (28 July 1843 – 23 December 1928) was a leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Life and career Thiselton-Dyer was born in Westminster, London. He was a son of ...

argued that the garden plant ''Cineraria cruenta'' was derived by simple breeding from the wild plant ''Senecio cruentus'', while

William Bateson William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscover ...

argued that it was of hybrid origin. The argument was resolved by Bateson, who enlisted Richard Irwin Lynch, Curator of the

Cambridge University Botanic Garden The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is a botanical garden located in Cambridge, England, associated with the university Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Department of Plant Sciences (formerly Botany School). It lies be ...

, to do some experimental crosses in 1897. Published in 1900, the results showed that the garden cineraria is clearly of hybrid origin. In fact, members of the genus ''

Pericallis ''Pericallis'' is a small genus of 15 species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores. The genus includes herbaceous plants and small subshrubs. In the past, the genus was often included in e ...

'' had been brought to England in 1777 and 1780, and by the early 1800s had been extensively hybridized by horticulturalists. By the time of the debate, there were numerous cultivars displaying wide morphological variation.

References

cruenta Endemic flora of the Canary Islands Plants described in 1845 Flora of Tenerife {{Senecioneae-stub