Gerbera Daisies,
The Daisy of Choice to Color Your World

You will delight in these pictures of gerbera daisies. Meet the daisy that has transformed from wildflower to become the fifth most popular flower in floral bouquets. They are also quite popular in gardens everywhere. Let your imagination run wild as you browse through these pictures of the flower that has crossed continents to be a part of your world.

You may wear your virtues as a crown, As you walk through life serenely, And grace your simple rustic gown With a beauty more than queenly. Though only one for you shall care, One only speak your praises; And you never wear in your shining hair, A richer flower than daisies.

Author: Phoebe Cary
Source: The Fortune in the Daisy

Where Did Gerbera Daisies Get Their Name?

One look at any flower garden and your eyes will feast on a large variety. Colors dance before your eyes in shades you may never have seen.

It is the job of botonists to sort through all those plants and give them names and categories. They group flowers together that have similar characteristics. The actual naming process includes multiple stages:

• Family - flowers in a specific family all have a common characteristic. For instance, daisies all have the composite charicteristic. This means they are flowers that include additional flowers in them. (see the wildflower picture below).
• Genus - divides characteristics down a little more. Gerbera or Gerber is the genus portion of this flower's name.
• Species - finally characteristics are broken down to specific features. This portion of the name is often dedicated to the founder of that particular species.

In short a family can have thousands of genera. And the Genus can have thousands of species.

Of all of the Asteraceae or Composite family of flowers the gerbera genus is rather small. There are only about 30 species of gerbera daisies. And of these species it would seem the most information available is about the Barberton Daisy.

Botanical or scientific name for this daisy is Gerbera Jamesonii. As you may guess the name honors founder Robert Jemeson. Robert was a Scottsman who discovered this lovely flower in South Africa.

Gerbera Jamesonii One of 30 Species

This awesome photograph of one of the most popular species in this family was contributed by my friend Karin Kalibra. Read Karin's Gerber Daisy story here.

Believe it or not Robert Jameson was not a botonist. He was actually a prominant business man. But he also had a passion for the earth and beauty of nature.

He was a member of the Natal Botanical Gardens Committee. During his membership he made many contributions of seeds and plants gathered during business trips.

When Jameson heard of the rich gold veins in Barberton, South Africa he set up a mining expedition. While walking the grounds of this expedition site he gathered plants and seeds.

This is how the popular Barberton Daisy or Gerbera Jamesonii got it's name.

Genus Named After German MD Traugott Gerber

The person responsible for classifying this family of plants was Swedish botonist, Carl Linnaeus. Carl was responsible for categorizing many plants.

One might think naming an entire Genus of a flower after someone would have a connection or deeper meaning. In the case of this gerbera or gerber daisy that meaning remains a mystery.

There are no healing properties to this plant that I could find. The only connection I found to Carl Linnaeus and Traugott Gerber is that they were friends. I guess it really does pay to have friends in high places.

So why was this entire genus named after Traugott Gerber? That is the interesting part. I've read conflicting notes about this man. The most detailed information I found was on this site www.gerbera.org.

Once a plant is discovered it is destined to make many transformations. Thanks to bees and natural polination alone these flowers have traveled a long way. They can now be found in many diverse places around the world.

Gerbera Daisies Grow Wild in Forests and Parks

Remember I mentioned that these flowers are part of the Composite family? Take a close look at the button like centers of the wildflower above. You don't need any imagination to see tiny flowers forming the middle circle. This composition of multiple flowers in one is what relates the Gerbera to the rest of the composite family.

This particular yellow beauty is probably better known as a wild sunflower. In either case they are all part of the same general family. I took this picture while walking in the park in Illinois.

Gerbera Daisies Become Popular With Florists

A newly discovered spcies like the gerbera jamesonii will likely take on many new forms. These daisies became quite popular. In the hands of naturalists new colors were introduced. One would have a hard time recognizing what the next generation had to offer.

With cultivation and the introduction of new climates gerbera daisies now come in a variety of colors like:

• White
• Cream
• Yellow
• Orange
• Pink
• Lilac
• Purple
• Red
• Brown
• Salmon
• Bicolor

Is it any wonder that they are so popular in flower arrangements?

Color Variety Adds New Meaning to Gerbera Daisies

Daisies have long been a classic symbol of beauty. Their meanings also include innocence and purity. Add in the available color variety of these flowers and you have to include cheerfulness and inspiration in those meanings.

You won't find a better gift to give your favorite aunt, mother, sweetheart or friend than a bouguet of brilliant colored daisies. I highly recommend ProFlowers for all your gerbera-daisies gift giving. Whether you are simply looking for a nice way to say "thank you" or "You are special", you are sure to find what you're looking for here.

Gerbera Daisy in Handmade Greeting Cards

Many of the pictures you'll find on Nature and Flower Pictures are great for adding to your own greeting card. If you like using photos to create greeting cards this is the place.

I recently got a request from Tracey and Paul for a picture of a gerber daisy. As you can see I found quite a few. Check out the Gerber Daisy Handmade Greeting Card they came up with. If you have a creation you would like to share, I would love to see it.

Gerbera Daisies Gallery

Here are a few more pictures to brighten your day.

Each thumbnail opens into a gallery. Click next and previous to browse through. Downloading is as simple as right click and save image as.

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