Gerberas are the most popular florist flowers next only to Carnations and Roses.Gerbera is a genus of the family of sunflowers, Daisies and Asters - Asteraceae, with a wide distribution from Africa to Madagascar, tropical Asia and South America. Through hybridization, Gerberas are available in a massive array of colors.
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Division
- Magnoliophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Asterales
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Subfamily
- Mutisioideae
- Genus
- Gerbera
Gerberas are perennial flowering plants featuring a large capitulum with striking, 2-lipped ray florets. The capitulum on the Gerberas has the appearance of a single flower, but is actually a closter of hundreds of individual flowers. The morphology of the flowers varies depending on their position in the capitulum of the Gerberas.
Facts About Gerberas
- Having a long vase life, Gerbera flowers are widely used in the Cut Flower Industry. Gerberas are great flowers for adding color to any room or garden.
- Gerberas are also referred to as Gerbera Daisies, daisy being a general name for all species in the family Asteraceae, to which Gerberas belong.
- Some species of Gerberas, such as Gerbera anandria, Gerbera aurantiaca and Gerbera jamesonii bear the suffix Daisy - Ghostly Daisy, Hilton Daisy, Barberton Daisy, Gerbera Daisy and Transvaal Daisy
- Gerbera flowers often measure 7 inches (17.8 cm) across.
- Gerberas come in a wide range of colors - from light to dark yellow, orange, pink, brilliant scarlet, deep red, and many more colors.
- Gerberas can be used in landscapes as bedding plants for borders and flower beds or as Cut Flowers for table arrangements.
- Gerberas are native to Transvaal, South Africa.
- Hybrid Gerbera varieties cloned through tissue culture are uniform, and have long-lasting flowers with thick peduncles that are not light sensitive; hence, flowers remain open in the dark, lending themselves to indoor use in flower arrangements.