Gerbera jamesonii
"Barberton Daisy"
The Gerbera jamesonii was discovered by Anton Rehmann in 1875 - 1880, but named in honour of
Robert Jameson, who travelled the Lowveld about 1885. At Moodies Estate, near Barberton, he collected the plant. The epithet
was proposed by Harry Bolus, the curator of the botanical garden in Cape Town, but first published by Adlam 1888 and should be
ascribed to him.
First Illustrations of the Barberton Daisy (which is it's popular name) were published in the Gardener's Chronicle in England in 1889. It is described as follows: The roots are fascicled, whipcord-like, 1 - 2,5 mm wide, the central part often reported as taproot-like. The crown is felted or villose. Several long-stalked spreading leaves, 15 to 42 cm long, in some cases up to 68 cm long and 4 to 14 cm wide. The upper surface is dark green, the lower one waxy green, the leaves have very distinct ragged edges. The flowers grow on long single stems. and can reach a diameter of up to 75 mm in some cases even more. The colours vary from white to dark red with all variations inbetween. The most prominent colour is orange-red. The pappus is creamy white to dirty white.
First Illustrations of the Barberton Daisy (which is it's popular name) were published in the Gardener's Chronicle in England in 1889. It is described as follows: The roots are fascicled, whipcord-like, 1 - 2,5 mm wide, the central part often reported as taproot-like. The crown is felted or villose. Several long-stalked spreading leaves, 15 to 42 cm long, in some cases up to 68 cm long and 4 to 14 cm wide. The upper surface is dark green, the lower one waxy green, the leaves have very distinct ragged edges. The flowers grow on long single stems. and can reach a diameter of up to 75 mm in some cases even more. The colours vary from white to dark red with all variations inbetween. The most prominent colour is orange-red. The pappus is creamy white to dirty white.
The plant is endemic to Mpumalanga and the Northern Province. Abundant in the Soutpanberg, on the slopes of the Makonjwa Mountains around Barberton, but also common in the districts of Witbank and Middleburg. The Gerbera jamesonii grows from 500 to 1670 m in bushveld, on steep rocks with grass, on dolomite soil, dolerite boulders and soil, stony clays, but also on burnt ground and other dry habitats, usually in some shade or under bushes and trees.
First published drawing in the Gardener's Chronicle 1888
Flowering time is mainly from September to December, but it can be foundflowering in any month of the year.
The Gerbera jamesonii is easily recognized by the large, elegant capitula, the extremely large rays, and the large, pinnated, very longed stalked leaves. The species is the ancestor of all cultivated forms of Gerbera, or they originate from the cross Gerbera jamesonii/ Gerbera veridifolia, originally made by Irwin Lynch in Great Britain about 1890. The cross introduced a great variation-pattern, and already Dümmer (1914) could state a long list of cultivated hybrids. The rich colour-spectrum of the rays also in nature is indeed remarkable.
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