volume 66 ~ number 2 second quarter 2016€¦ · the next day, may 19, 2015, my helper sergio and i...

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Volume 66 ~ Number 2Second Quarter 2016

GesneriadsThe Journal for Gesneriad Growers Gesneriads

2 Gesneriads ~ Volume 66 ~ Number 2Return to Table of Contents

GesneriadsThe Journal for Gesneriad Growers Volume 66 ~ Number 2Second Quarter 2016

CoverSinningia helleri, back in cultivation, in Mauro Peixoto’s greenhouse. Photo: Mauro Peixoto. See article, page 5.

Back CoverSeemannia ‘Red Prince’, hybridized, grown, and photographed by John Boggan. See article, page 41.

FEATURES5 The Sinningia helleri Saga:

Rediscovery and Conservation Mauro Peixoto

8 Finding Sinningia helleri Dave Zaitlin15 Convention Auction16 Welcome to Wilmington, Delaware Mary Schaeffer19 All About Streptocarpus

Part 2: Temperature Pavel Enikeev and Olga Makarova 28 Gesneriads Index 2015 31 Irwin Wagman – A Remembrance Paul Susi33 Gesneriad Registrations Irina Nicholson39 Donations Paul Susi41 Seemannia: A Gesneriad with

Commercial Potential John Boggan

46 Botanical Review No. 43 Bob Stewart52 Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws

of The Gesneriad Society, Inc.56 In Memoriam

DEPARTMENTS3 Message From the President Julie Mavity-Hudson4 From the Editor Peter Shalit32 Coming Events Mary Schaeffer40 Changes to Species Seed List 1Q1653 Back to Basics: Species: Replicating

Their Natural Habitat Dale Martens with Karyn Cichocki 57 Seed Fund – Hybrids Gussie Farrice61 Information About The Gesneriad

Society, Inc.


EditorPeter [email protected] Staff and Contributing EditorsJeanne Katzenstein, Charlene Marietti, Dale Martens, Julie Mavity-Hudson, Irina Nicholson, Paul SusiConsulting TaxonomistDr. Laurence E. SkogTaxonomy Reference Websitehttp://botany.si.edu/ gesneriaceae/checklist/Botanical ReviewBob Stewart [email protected] Design and ProductionAdshead Graphics [email protected]

Business ManagerMichael A. [email protected] ManagerTom Bruning31233 Beechnut Road, Treynor, IA [email protected]

The right to reprint or quote exten sively from Gesneriads is reserved; permission may be requested from the Editor. Gesneriads follows the Interna-tional Codes of Nomen clature, including The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (2012). Views published in Gesneriads are not necessarily those of the editors, the Society, or its officers. Editor’s deadline is three months before the first day of each quarter.

The Gesneriad Society, Inc.The objects of The Gesneriad Society are to afford a convenient and beneficial association of persons interested in the Gesneriad Plant Family (Gesneriaceae); to stimulate a wide-spread interest in; to gather and publish reliable infor mation about the identifica tion, correct nomenclature, culture, propagation, and conservation of gesneriads; and to encourage the origination, introduction, and conservation of species and cultivars.

The Gesneriad Society, Inc. is the International Registration Authority for the names and cultivars of gesneriads excepting the genus Saintpaulia. Any person desiring to register a cultivar should contact Irina Nicholson, 2512 South Balsam Way, Lakewood, CO 80227 USA [email protected].

www.gesneriadsociety.org ~ www.facebook.com/gesneriads

botany.si.edu/gesneriaceae/checklist/

botany.si.edu/gesneriaceae/checklist/

mailto:[email protected]






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Second Quarter 2016 3Return to Table of Contents

Message from the PresidentONE OF ThE MOST REwARDiNg PARTS OF gROwiNg plants is the comradery that comes from associating with others who have like interests. The pinnacle of this experience is going to the gesneriad Society Convention. From what i have heard from others and experienced myself, our convention is the best of them. it’s not so large that you get lost in the shuffle, yet there are enough people there to make it exciting. People come from all over the U.S. and many other countries to convene with others who have the same passion.

i have been going to this convention since 1982 or 1983 (with a few missed during a difficult period in my life) and have made lifelong friends that i would not trade anything for. in addition, i have seen more gesneriad species and hybrids, and learned more about plants (both horticulturally and scientifically) than would have been possible in any other way. i have also visited places i would never have visited otherwise and have seen many sensational botanical gardens and historical sites that i would never have experienced.

For the full convention experience, be sure to check the volunteer box on the registration form. That is one of the best ways to get more involved and to make new friends. i hope that those of you who are sitting on the fence will take the plunge and register to join us in wilmington this year. i promise you will not regret it.

Another wonderful part of our world are the local gesneriad chapters. if you have one within driving distance and haven’t joined, you are missing out on an incredible resource. This is the best way to acquire new plants and to share growing information, in particular information that is relevant to your climate and conditions. Again, you will make friendships that will last a lifetime. if you don’t have a local society, consider getting together with some friends and forming one. it is not as hard as you may think.

i look forward to seeing many of you at convention.

Julie Mavity-hudson<[email protected]>Joelton, TN, USA

I hope that those of you who are sitting on the fence will take the plunge and register to join us in Wilmington this year.

Seed Fund Promotional ContestTo encourage donations to the Gesneriad Society’s Seed Fund, a contest began on January 1, 2016. First and second place prizes will be given to the persons making the most Seed Fund donations throughout the year. The number of individual types of seed contributed (not the number of seeds) will be tracked from January 1 through December 31, 2016. The prizes ($25 for first and $15 for second) will be gift certificates of the winners’ choice below:

w Seed Fund w Commercial grower of winner’s choice

w Gesneriad Society webstore w Convention plant sales



Have you ever brought gesneriads to grow at your work, school, community center, or other public place?

From the EditorGesneriads at WorkMy GlOxINIa PErENNIS wAS gETTiNg TOO TAll for the lightstand and it was still far from blooming size, so i decided to bring it to work. The windows are very tall at my medical office and they face south, providing reasonable light given Seattle’s overcast climate. i brought the plant to work in August and it elicited many oohs and ahs because of its shiny gray-green foliage with red undersides. it grew, and grew, and finally bloomed in November, at a height of over three feet tall. The lavender bell-shaped flowers are beautiful and impress everyone who sees the plant. The flowers also have a subtle minty fragrance that is a pleasing bonus.

As an indoor light gardener, i realize i was never able to let this species reach its full potential, given the cramped conditions under lights. in the windowsill it grew to nearly four feet tall, and was much happer than it had ever been at home. it’s also been seen, enjoyed, and photographed by many more people than if it were living down in the basement. My plant of Gloxinia perennis is responsible for educating lots of curious folks about the true genus Gloxinia and its relationship to the florist gloxinia.

have you ever brought gesneriads to grow at your work,

school, community center, or other public place? if so, i’d love to hear your story. if not, you really should try. it’s a great way to show off your green thumb and to inform and educate people about the beauty and fascination of this wonderful family of plants. i’m already figuring out what other large gesneriads would be fun to have on the windowsill at work. Columnea sanguinea is probably the next one i’ll try.

Enjoy Gesneriads!

<[email protected]>Seattle, wA, USA

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THE SinninGia helleri SAGA: REDISCovERy AND CoNSERvATIoN Mauro Peixoto

SINNINGIa HEllErI wAS lAST SEEN iN 1907 AS A BlACK AND whiTE photograph published in The gardener’s Chronicle, a botanical magazine (Vol. Xli, p. 342). Since then, there has been no record of it being in cultivation or growing in the wild.

i had several discussions about this plant with Alain Chautems because i thought the color illustration might be an “artist’s interpretation” of Sinningia lindleyi. however, Alain never agreed with me and, of course, he was absolutely right, so he kept looking for it. Fortunately, modern technology and social media came to his aid.

There is a group on Facebook called Detweb, where mostly botanists and students post pictures of Brazilian plants to be identified. in March of 2015, Alain posted the 19th century color prints of Sinningia helleri1 and Gloxinia schottii (=S. helleri)2. he requested anyone who lived or collected plants near the Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, the biological reserve where it was first collected, look for any plant that might resemble S. helleri.

About a month passed, and then in early April of 2015, a picture of S. helleri growing in the wild showed up on this group’s website. it was posted by Marilia Suzy wangler, a botanist living in Miguel Pereira, a small town in Rio de Janeiro state that includes a small portion of the northern part of the Tinguá Reserve within its territory.

Suzy had taken the picture on one of her regular field trips back in 2008, but never returned to the locale to make an official collection. She didn´t even remember having

Hand-colored illustration of Sinningia helleri. Source: Nees von Esenbeck and Sinning (citation 1)


taken it, and only found it again while searching through her old files, looking for a good plant picture for the Boy Scout group that she and her husband belong to. when Alain confirmed the plant’s identity, Suzy almost fainted, and on the following day she went back to the place and found that the small plant colony was still there and going strong.

Suzy went back home, both happy and shocked at the same time. Although the population of Sinningia helleri was healthy, it was growing only a few meters away from an old deactivated railway line. worse yet, the county was taking out the track to sell the scrap iron and was clearing all the margins because that portion of the railway was destined to become a public park, mainly for bicycles. Fortunately, the destruction stopped just 30 meters from the plants because a big rock had fallen on the track. They were waiting for special equipment to remove it.

Suzy collected three small tubers and sent them to me by mail, so i could try to grow Sinningia helleri in my greenhouse. She started to talk to everybody in Miguel Pereira, but nobody seemed to be interested in saving the plant, because it was not on the Red list of endangered species. There also was no official record of it having been collected in the last 50 years, so S. helleri was considered to be extinct. while Marilia Suzy was racing against time to change the species’ status, she received news that the large rock was to be blown up in a few days and called me.

The next day, May 19, 2015, my helper Sergio and i left home at 5 A.M. and drove 500 km to see the Sinningia helleri population. The plants were still there, but we were shocked to see the destruction that the county workers had caused by cutting down all the trees along the railway track and leaving a big pile of debris and rocks behind.

Mauro Peixoto in Sinningia helleri’s native habitat.


i took some pictures of the plants, and to my surprise, i found that one plant had an old dried seed capsule from the previous flowering season. i opened it and found there were still some seeds inside that i carefully brought back home. i sowed a few, and most of the remaining seeds were shared and auctioned off at the gesneriad Convention in Oakland. Alan laVergne had the winning bid. hung Nguyen in San Francisco was the first person in the USA to successfully grow and bloom Sinningia helleri from those seeds. At present, several other people also have this species in cultivation in the U.S.

Although Marilia Suzy was able to change the status of Sinningia helleri from “Extinct” to “Critically Endangered”, the land clearing didn’t stop. By June, the rock had been removed. The workers had also cut down two trees that were protecting the plants from wind and sun.

in December 2015, i revisited the habitat with Dave Zaitlin, Ray Van Veen, Suzy wangler, and her husband Vitor. we noticed there were fewer plants than when i was there the first time in May. The County had also put up a barbed wire fence in an effort to keep people away from the plants.

while we were there, Suzy told me that she had heard from the person in charge of protecting the plants (but who didn’t do anything about it), that another population of Sinningia helleri had been found about 15 kilometers away. She later confirmed this information, so now we have at least two known colonies of S. helleri growing in the wild.

As of January 2016, my plants have several seed capsules forming. As soon as i harvest the seeds, i plan to raise at least 200 plants. i will send the seedlings back to Marilia Suzy so that she can plant them at the original site and in other similar habitats nearby. Footnotes:1. T.F.l. Nees von Esenbeck and w. Sinning (1831) Sammlung Schönblühender gewächse für

Blumen- und gartenfreunde. Düsseldorf, pp. 124-126, Tab. 54.2. J.C. Mikan (1820) Delectus Florae et Faunae Brasiliensis.

WebinarsThe Gesneriad Society has begun to offer webinars on various topics related to gesneriads. These webinars are PowerPoint programs with an expert talking about the photos being shown on the screen. They are approximately one hour long. One can register for a nominal fee on The Gesneriad Society’s web site: http://shop.gesneriadsociety.org.You will receive your unique login link within 48 hours. The unique login link will only admit one computer. While you can have as many people in the room as you want to view and listen to the webinar, you cannot share your link with other computers.

Each webinar will have a “live” date and then the registered person can view this recorded webinar anytime until the stop date three months later. During the “live” event, one can type questions for the speaker. The “anytime” webinar cannot accept questions.

The goal for the webinars is to educate as many as possible about gesneriads. Therefore, each recorded webinar can be viewed for three months. You are encouraged to show the webinar to your local chapter or club if your meeting place has internet access. The Streptocarpus webinar given by Dale Martens was seen by groups at the homes of a number of Society members. If you have a group or chapter watching, then it is recommended they listen through your computer because if you use a speaker phone long distance charges may apply. One does need to make sure the sound system is good enough that everyone in the room can hear the talk.

http://shop.gesneriadsociety.org

http://shop.gesneriadsociety.org.You


Finding Sinningia helleriDave Zaitlin ~ Lexington, KY ~ [email protected]

i ARRiVED iN BRAZil ThE MORNiNg OF DECEMBER 1, 2015 with the promise of seeing the fabled Sinningia helleri in habitat as well as three new populations of S. speciosa. Over the course of the next six days, my expectations were met and exceeded; in addition to S. helleri and S. speciosa, we managed to find four other species of Sinningia - S. aggregata, S. mauroana, S. magnifica, and S. douglasii. On our travels we also encountered a species of Besleria with yellow flowers, a species of Nematanthus, and many different species of begonias, mostly unknown to us. But best of all was the good company, good food, and new and old friends to make up for the minor inconveniences of occasionally

inclement weather and the terrible roads.First here is a little history. we learned from wallace wells’ excellent article in the

previous issue of Gesneriads that Sinningia helleri is the type species of the genus Sinningia, which was founded on this one species by Christian gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in 1825. Because Sinningia remains a valid genus, S. helleri has always been a sinningia. Many other species cannot make such a claim; for example, there are at least 38 published invalid names for S. speciosa, only eight of which are in Sinningia, and the broadly distributed species S. incarnata has >40 discarded names in six genera (world Checklist of gesneriaceae; http://botany.si.edu/gesneriaceae/checklist). in a curious botanical twist, the first illustration to feature S. helleri under its proper (and present) name was published in 1831 in a book authored by wilhelm Sinning and Theodor Friedrich ludwig Nees von Esenbeck, the younger brother of C.g.D. Nees von Esenbeck. Mr. wells also showed that an illustration of S. lindleyi, a valid species, was erroneously published as S. helleri in 1826 in the Botanical Register. Adding to this 19th century confusion, a colored engraving of S. velutina from 1846 clearly shows S. helleri (large white flowers, red calyxes, etc.) (See image A)

On the morning of December 2, Mauro and i drove to guarulhos airport to pick up his friend Ray Van Veen who lives in los Angeles, CA. Ray has been to Brazil many times on plant and fishing trips, and he is a good traveling companion and plant explorer. After a delay dealing with Ray’s missing suitcase, we left the airport and headed east towards Rio de Janeiro state. we spent the next three nights at a beautiful hotel called Pousada Casa das Pedras in the town of Miguel Pereira, which is roughly 100 km north of the city of Rio. As its name implies, this hotel was built mainly of stones (pedras).

A


http://botany.si.edu/gesneriaceae/checklist


The next morning we collected botanist Marilia Suzy wangler (B) and her husband Vitor from their house in Miguel Pereira, and set off on our sinningia expedition. Miguel Pereira is a resort town in a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state at ~700 meters altitude, but the habitat of S. helleri is located in a river valley south of the town at ~300 meters. Because it had rained heavily the night before, the dirt roads leading out of town were not in the best condition. On the way down the mountain, the roads were heavily rutted, muddy, and slippery, and there were some areas that were nearly impassible. Fortunately, Mauro’s vehicle (a Renault Duster) has a stout suspension and enough power to handle almost any road in

Brazil. we left the car and walked approximately 2 kilometers along the abandoned railroad right-of-way, avoiding the mud and piles of debris that remained after the track was removed. we found S. helleri exactly where Suzy and Mauro had left it six months before (C, D). The small population is growing on the south face of a slope above a concrete culvert where a small stream flows under the former train track. By my rough count, i estimate that there are probably fewer than 50 plants in the population. This isn’t very many, but it was encouraging to see both large and small plants growing together. Also, it

was obvious from the many red calyces that all of the large plants had flowered recently. if you look carefully at the photos you can see a late flower or two.

leaving Sinningia helleri, we (thankfully) took another road back towards Miguel Pereira (E), found a place to eat lunch, and then drove to an area southwest of the town to see a population of Sinningia speciosa that had also been discovered by Suzy. we had come up ~300 meters in elevation from the river valley where S. helleri lives, so in addition to mud and dripping vegetation, we were in the fog and mist once again (F). But we did find the plants, and there were many of them. Typical of S. speciosa, this population was growing on a near-vertical granite slope, with the tubers rooted in pockets of moss and decaying organic matter (G). i could see that many of the larger plants were in bud, although none had yet flowered. The surrounding area turned out to

B

C


D

F

H I

E


G


be botanically rich; Sinningia mauroana also grows on this granite hill (H), along with many species of Begonia. i was particularly interested in the form of S. speciosa that Suzy found here, because this is only the second population i know of in which the plants have bright green leaves with silver veins. The other population is located near the town of São Fidelis, which is >250 km from Miguel Pereira in the northeastern part of Rio de Janeiro state, and at much lower altitude (22 meters above sea level).

The next day, December 4, we went with Suzy and Vitor to a heavily forested area east of Miguel Pereira where the elevation was ~1,000 m above sea level. Once again, this proved to be a botanical paradise – especially if you like begonias. Sinningia magnifica was also particularly common here, growing on the rocks as usual. Driving west, we stopped to explore some large boulders that were off the road on the other side of a barbed-wire fence. These rocks were almost overgrown with bromeliads and some very large plants of a species of rhipsalis (an epiphytic cactus). But the highlight of the day for me was our discovery of Sinningia douglasii. There were many plants growing in moss and leaf litter on the tops of the boulders, and several had flowers and seed capsules (I). Even though this is a very widely distributed species in southern Brazil, i had never seen it in the wild until now.

we awoke Saturday to find that our friend Josi Rossini, a student at the Botanical garden of Rio de Janeiro, had joined us late the previous night, her bus from Rio having been delayed several hours by heavy rains. The four of us bade farewell to Marilia Suzy and Vitor and set off for Volta grande, a small town ~160 km distant in Minas gerais state on the north side of the Rio Paraiba do Sul. in 2013, a Brazilian botanist named leonardo Vianna had photographed a population of Sinningia speciosa growing in this area near where a small river, the Rio Angu, enters the Paraiba. we drove as close to the river as we could and stopped at the end of the road at a small camping area with an outdoor bar. Mauro talked to some local men there, and they were actually familiar with the plant. But they took a look at his car and told him that without 4-wheel drive, we wouldn’t make it. The recent heavy rains had turned the road into a muddy mire, and the normally small Rio Angu was now a brown swollen torrent, impossible for us to cross (J). This turned out to be our only ‘miss’ of the entire trip, and caused us to change our plans. we decided to continue on to another new population of S. speciosa that had been recently discovered by idimá gonçalves da Costa close to the town of Conceição de Macabu in the eastern part of Rio de Janeiro state. it took us over three hours of driving after leaving Volta grande to get to the location provided by idimá, but we did not see

J K


any sinningias. This habitat was a large granite hill, much of which was heavily forested. Ray and Josi climbed up through the trees, and i think that Josi did see a few inaccessible plants of S. speciosa high up on the rock. i stayed below and explored along the base; ~200 meters further down the road i found a seep where a tiny spring had saturated a patch of exposed soil. Sure enough, there were two plants of S. speciosa growing here, and the larger one was in bud (K). This form of S. speciosa has dark leaves with silver veins and red petioles. The big plant now resides in Mauro’s greenhouse, where it flowered later in December.

we spent the night in a nice hotel in Conceição de Macabu and began the return leg of the journey right after breakfast. This was a 5+ hour drive to a regional park known as Cachoeira da Fumaça, ~40 km north of the city of Resende. Mauro and i had visited this place previously with Bill Price in early 2013. On a large rock overlooking the waterfall there is a small population of Sinningia speciosa, and to my knowledge this is the western-most occurrence of the species (L). i wrote about this population in Gesneriads in 2015 (vol. 65, number 2). while the majority of the plants we saw there were small, there were a few larger plants in flower. Mauro managed to collect one of these for Josi to prepare as a herbarium specimen. “Collecting” entailed my holding onto Mauro’s leg while he hung precariously over the edge of the rock, right above the raging river, to reach the plant. (i can report that all ended well.) This is a distinctive and attractive form of S. speciosa that is not yet in general cultivation (M). The widespread species S. aggregata also grows in the park in great profusion, and Ray managed to find a plant with mature seed capsules.

That evening, we left Josi at the bus station for her return trip to Rio, and stayed at the Cegil hotel Boulevard, which bills itself as the best hotel in Resende. we departed early the next morning and arrived at Mauro’s sitio before lunch. Ray left Brazil that evening, and found his suitcase waiting for him at lAX (it had never arrived in Brazil). i stayed another day with Mauro and flew home the night of December 8. Once again, i

L


have to thank my good friend Mauro Peixoto for another enjoyable and productive plant trip and also for his fine hospitality. it was a treat to meet Marilia Suzy wangler and her husband, and we in the gesneriad-growing community owe Suzy our deepest thanks and appreciation for her re-discovery of the long-lost Sinningia helleri. From my limited experience S. helleri is easy to grow, and i predict that it will soon become common in horticulture and will be a favorite of gesneriad growers everywhere because of its singular beauty (N).Figure legendsA. hand-colored engraving of Sinningia helleri published as S. velutina in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine,

vol. 72, plate 4212, 1846.B. Marilia Suzy wangler and Ray Van Veen at the habitat of Sinningia helleri, 3 December 2015.C. Sinningia helleri and associated vegetation growing on a steep slope near Miguel Pereira, RJ, Brazil.

There are two flowers visible on the plant just above the center of the image.D. Another view of the habitat of Sinningia helleri.E. leaving the habitat of Sinningia helleri, Ray bravely scouts the road ahead of the car to make sure that

we weren’t about to drive into a sinkhole.F. wet and foggy conditions near the habitat of Sinningia speciosa.g. Sinningia speciosa in habitat Sw of Miguel Pereira, RJ. it was an overcast day and the plants were in

deep shade, making it difficult to photograph them in natural light.h. Mauro checks his cellphone while Ray admires a large stand of Sinningia mauroana growing above

them on the rock. A single orange flower is visible ~1 meter above Mauro’s head.i. Several plants of Sinningia douglasii in habitat on a large rock east of Miguel Pereira at almost 1,000

m elevation.J. Josi Rossini on the banks of the raging Rio Angu near Volta grande, Minas gerais, Brazil.K. Sinningia speciosa growing on a vertical bank ~2 km west of the town of Conceição de Macabu, RJ. A

leaf of the second plant found here is just visible in the top left corner of the picture.l. Sinningia speciosa growing high on the rock above Cachoeira da Fumaça, north of Resende, RJ. There

are at least four plants visible in this image.M. A plant of Sinningia speciosa from Cachoeira da Fumaça flowering in Mauro’s greenhouse.N. A mature collected plant of Sinningia helleri in Mauro’s greenhouse, showing its distinctive white

flowers and red calyces, December 2015.

M N

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Convention Dates to RememberRegister and reserve your hotel room early!

June 13 Hotel reservation deadline for convention room rates. (Note: Convention rates will not be honored after our room block is filled, which could be before this date.)

June 15 Donation deadline for Flower Show awards.June 20 Judging School registration deadline. Be reminded that no

registrations will be accepted at convention.June 20 Reservation deadline for artistic and arts entries and for

commercial and educational exhibits.

To register online, go to

http://gesneriadsociety.org/conventions/2016-convention-wilmington-delaware/

Convention AuctionAS wE gET READy FOR whAT PROMiSES TO BE AN EXCiTiNg convention in wilmington, we want to remind the members of the Delaware African Violet and gesneriad Society that they have the opportunity to make this one of the biggest, if not the biggest, convention auction event ever. Members of the host chapter (even those who are not attending convention) can more easily donate items to the silent and live auctions than can those who have to travel long distances. having said that, we urge all convention goers to take at least one horticulturally related item with them to wilmington.

if you would like to donate one or more items but will not be attending convention (or if you would like to send your items in advance of your arrival), you may send them to: Mary Schaeffer, 171 haut-Brion Avenue, Newark, DE 19702. Mail your items by June 15th to allow sufficient time for delivery.

Remember to bring the donation form with you to convention! it will be included in your confirmation packet. Questions about the auction can be addressed to Paul Susi at <[email protected]>.

looking forward to seeing you in wilmington!Paul Susi, Development Chairperson

Doris Carson and Tom Bruning, auction Co-Chairpersons

Discover a World of Diversity!

American Begonia SocietyPaul Rothstein33 Kintyre Lane

Bella Vista, AR 72715Email: [email protected]

www.begonias.org

Membership $25/ yearUSA, Canada, Mexico

$45 Overseas 6 issues of the Begonian

Seed Fund Slide & Video Library

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Welcome to Wilmington, DelawareMary Schaeffer, Local Convention Chair ~ <[email protected]>

NESTlED iN ThE hEART OF ThE Brandywine Valley is wilmington, a city rarely associated with gesneriads. All that will change in July, and we hope you’ll be part of it. As you’ve probably guessed, wilmington is the location of the 60th annual gesneriad Society Convention. The local and Society convention team has been diligently working to make this a truly memorable event. Come to the convention and then stay a few days to enjoy some of the hidden delights of the Brandywine Valley and surroundings.

Wilmington skyline. Photo: Leslie Kipp

located in the northeast corridor, just off i-95, wilmington is within easy access of the Amtrak and SEPTA train stations. This means day trips to Philadelphia, New york City, and washington, DC are all possible. But you don’t have to go that far to enjoy the area delights. The area is loaded with gardens … and that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are also places to visit for wine lovers, art aficionados, and baseball devotees.

The wilmington fun starts on Monday, July 4th. The city hosts a spectacular July 4th celebration at the Riverfront, which is about a mile from the hotel. The event starts around 6 p.m. with entertainment and food trucks, and the fireworks begin around 9:45 p.m. whether you intend to have your dinner from one of the trucks or just come for the fireworks, plan on arriving before 8:30 p.m. That’s when all traffic going into the Riverfront was closed last year.

As for visiting the gardens, you might want to start with Mount Cuba (open wednesday–Sunday), a quietly elegant garden focused on native plants. with over 50 acres of display gardens and over 500 acres of natural lands, it is a short car ride away from the hotel. A hop, skip, and a jump from Mount Cuba is Nemours Mansion and



gardens (open Tuesday–Sunday), a 300-acre country estate with jardin à la française formal gardens and a classical French mansion.

And of course, there’s longwood. whether you participate in the Society planned trip or go on your own, you won’t want to miss this beautiful vista. included on many Top 10 Most Beautiful Gardens lists, it boasts over 1000 acres of botanical beauties that include a few gesneriads. in addition to its water lilies known for their famous platter leaves, keep your eyes peeled for baskets of seemannia, a hanging ball of streptocarpella, a pot of nematanthus or perhaps, if we’re lucky, a bed of Kohleria ‘longwood’. This is a garden definitely worth a few visits.

The Brandywine is home to more than gardens. The Brandywine River Museum of Art will be running a special exhibit entitled, Get the Picture! recent Children’s Book Illustration. Renowned for its holdings of the

wyeth family of artists, the museum features galleries dedicated to the work of N. C. wyeth, Andrew wyeth, and Jamie wyeth. As wonderful as it is, this is not the only museum in the area.

Seemannia sylvatica growing at Longwood Gardens. Photo: Mary Schaeffer

Brandywine River Museum of Art is housed in a restored gristmill overlooking the Brandywine River. Photo: Mike Biggs. Right, Interior. Photo: Rick Echelmeyer

The hagley Museum is located on the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. i. du Pont. This example of early American industry includes restored mills, a workers’ community, and the ancestral home and gardens of the du Pont family.

The Brandywine Valley isn’t only for plant and art lovers. Oenophiles will be delighted to discover the Brandywine Valley wine Trail <bvwtrail.com>, which includes four wine vineyards open for wine tastings.

And lastly, wilmington is baseball central for avid fans of the game. Unfortunately, the Ny yankees will not be in town during the convention. The stadiums of four other major league teams are within a two hour drive (more, if traffic doesn’t cooperate). The Baltimore Orioles will be playing at home July 8–10; the Ny Mets June 30 – July 10; the Philadelphia Phillies July 1 – 6; and the washington Nationals June 27 – July 6. what’s more, Delaware’s own minor league team, the Blue Rocks, has its stadium just a few short miles from the hotel. They’ll be in town June 27 – July 4. you can take the


wilmington Trolley to and from the stadium, as long as you are careful not to miss the last run. Check each team’s web page for details about their games and to purchase tickets.

Surely this is more than enough to tempt you to come to the convention and see the area. wilmington is an easy drive from most east coast cities, and flights from many major cities come into the Philadelphia airport. There is a Visitors Center at 100 west 10th Street, just a few blocks from the hotel, should you need additional information. i hope you’ll join me and my Delaware Chapter colleagues for what promises to be a truly exceptional time.

Baseball stadium. Photo: Brad Glazier and the Wilmington Blue Rocks

Nominating Committee ReportThe following members have agreed to have their names placed in

nomination as Directors for a three-year term ending in 2019:

Laura Buckner ............................... Kent, NY, USA

Karyn Cichocki ........................Lafayette, NJ, USA

Betsy Gottshall .................... Collegeville, PA, USA

Eileen McGrath ..........Carleton Place, ON, Canada

Norah Otto ........................... Nederland, CO, USA

Mary Schaeffer ...........................Newark, DE, USA

Kathy Spissman ......................... Tucker, GA, USA

The Gesneriad Society60th Annual Convention – 2016

July 5-9, 2016 – Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Call for 2016 Annual Membership MeetingThe Annual Meeting of the members of The Gesneriad Society will be held

on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 5:45 p.m. for the purpose of transacting business that may properly come before the meeting.

Call for 2016 Board of Directors MeetingThe Board of Directors meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 5, 2016, from

2 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. for the purpose of transacting business that may properly come before the meeting. The Board will reconvene

on Friday, July 8, 2016 from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Leonard Re, Recording Secretary


All About Streptocarpus Part 2: TemperaturePavel Enikeev (Павел Еникеев), Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine <[email protected]>and Olga Makarova <[email protected]>

Editor’s note: Pavel Enikeev and Olga Makarova, PhD, are co-authoring an English-language book on Streptocarpus. This new book draws on Pavel’s original russian-language book, Стрептокарпус (Streptocarpus), but contains much new and updated material. gesneriads is introducing this book in serialization, translated by Michael Tarasev and Mark larson. all photos are by Pavel Enikeev.

BEFORE STARTiNg, iT iS iMPORTANT TO DEFiNE SOME TERMS ThAT will help the discussion of temperature and Streptocarpus. in the discussion, we will be working with “general cases” and “specific cases” and it is important to define these terms for our needs. To help explain these two terms, consider the simple example of a person getting the flu. Most people, including doctors, agree that a person will recover faster by getting rest, keeping warm, and drinking fluids. This is what the general consensus, as well as medical literature, tells us should be the best course of action. This may be defined as a “general case” of flu treatment. On the other hand, we may hear a story that someone beat the flu by taking an icy shower and drinking lots of pepper-infused rum. we may hear that this is a sure-fire, next-day cure for the flu. This may be defined as a “specific case.” what is the difference? it is possible that a person, who, due to some metabolic quirk, tried such an approach and actually got well on a combination of a cold shower and rum. however, we have no real proof that the method actually worked. we cannot even be certain whether the person in question even had the flu. it is an anecdotal solution to the problem of the flu. Most likely, if we were to get sick, we would follow a doctor’s recommendations and stay in bed.

Two of Pavel’s unnamed Streptocarpus hybrids




we have introduced these concepts because we are trying to build a “general case” for streptocarpus growers, based on research and experimentation. we want to explain how and why different factors combine and interact to achieve healthy plants. we also want to present the “elegant solution”; that is, a way to grow streps with the least amount of complication. Streptocarpus are relatively new plants to the horticultural hobbyist when compared to orchids and African violets. Although there are a number of growers who have experimented with streptocarpus cultivation, applying lessons they have learned from their experience with other plants, much of this is trial-and-error. Although such experiences may lead to new understandings and new techniques and are an essential part of advancing our general knowledge, these anecdotal references may also lead to misunderstandings if one does not account for all the variables or does not have a verifiable cause and effect relationship. For home growers particularly, it is not usually possible to control and measure all the interdependent variables that go into growing streps. Temperature, humidity, light, soil composition and more all contribute to a plant’s growth. Each of these variables also has aspects of intensity, duration, and frequency to consider. we will explain as best we can the relationship of

these variables – how the balance of light and temperature work in nature and how this balance must be maintained in changing conditions. A grower may develop a method of successfully growing streps that may be difficult for others to reproduce, or the method may work and may be reproducible, but is unnecessarily complicated. in another medical analogy, a doctor may administer a drug to treat a symptom. That works, but the side effects result in other symptoms. The doctor administers another drug to treat those symptoms and so on. The resulting collection of drugs may lead to success, but often the doctor will find it best to start over and come up with a simpler, more “elegant” solution. That is what we are attempting to do – take what we’ve learned through trial-and-error, use that understanding to identify the scientific cause-and-effect, and present it in a manner that will permit anyone to succeed in growing these beautiful plants.

As we have mentioned, a lot of often conflicting information prompted us to write this book. in the last decade we saw a real boom of interest in growing streptocarpus. it is painful to read comments from novices, who start with complicated or unproven growing methods and suffer with sick plants, which either die or are a feeble echo of healthy, magnificently flowering streptocarpus. As a result, novice growers often give up under the impression that streptocarpus are difficult plants to grow. in fact, the authors consider streps to be some of the most robust plants among all popular flowering in-house flora. The strep grower just needs to follow a couple of simple rules and success will be inevitable. That is what we want to present in this book – “general case” rules that would ensure healthy flowing plants.

how can the grower be confident that we indeed have the understanding, and that we can suggest an approach that will be the right one to start a streptocarpus odyssey? The best proof is in our plants – they are always strong, blooming, and never die.

we do not use preventive pesticides, and do not coddle our plants, preferring to keep them in spartan conditions. we have had a chance to grow our plants in different countries (Russia, Ukraine, and USA) and on different continents. we have had a

Pavel Enikeev

Olga Makarova


chance to try all sorts of different materials, soils, lights, etc., and have concluded that streps are truly hard to kill. Plants could be dried or over-watered, planted in a hurry, or in a place with insufficient light. They still lived. how did we find those conditions? we studied the literature and conducted numerous experiments.

we used the scientific method – we experimented and did not draw conclusions based on a single event or test. we ran the experiments many times, with many different plants. we had proper controls, grew the same plants in different conditions, and compared them to each other. All these plants were of the same hybrid, were at a similar developmental stage, and had similar root systems at the beginning of the experiments. Only then were we able to make any meaningful comparisons.

let us begin. owe don’t pretend to have all the right answers now, and we will continue to learn and refine our knowledge, but we are doing our best to create a scientifically based approach to streptocarpus cultivation.Streptocarpus and TemperatureOptimal Temperature

Streptocarpus hybridization incorporates a variety of native species that exist in a variety of environments, so it is difficult to predict beforehand the optimal temperature for each particular hybrid. Still, based on practical experience, the optimal growing temperature range for all hybrids can be set at 59°-77°F (15°-25°C). The survival temperature range is much wider – from 32°to 86°F (0°to 30°C). Of course, the length of exposure to particular temperatures is an additional factor that must be considered. here we are not talking minutes, but rather many hours of exposure.

Unnamed Streptocarpus hybrid by Pavel


When is the Temperature Too Low?

African and Madagascan streptocarpus are surprisingly resistant to cold temperatures. These species and resulting hybrids are more resistant to cold and temperature fluctuation than African violets. Some hybrids can survive brief exposure to freezing temperatures (but don’t try this at home). On the other hand, prolonged exposures to temperatures below 50°F (10°C) can be potentially harmful for some other hybrids. however, temperatures above 50°F (10°C) do not appear to cause any problems for any hybrids. This is the general case.

Now let us consider the main rules that would allow us to predict how streptocarpus would respond to changing environmental factors, including temperature. A decrease in temperature slows down all physiological processes including photosynthesis, respiration, feeding, evaporation, etc., leading to retarded growth. when temperatures are low, it is critical to water plants less, decrease fertilizer concentration or omit it, as excess water can lead to rot of the root system and numerous secondary infections. A decrease in temperature by itself leads to a significant increase in humidity, and that in turn also leads to an increased risk of infection by pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Thus the general rule for low temperatures: A decrease in temperature requires less watering (both of amount and frequency). For example, the difference in the required irrigation of streptocarpus at 86°F (25°C) and 59°F (15°C) can vary up ten times! A common mistake in streptocarpus cultivation is failure to decrease volume and frequency of irrigation.

Both photos: Heated balcony in Siberia in June. Winter temperature 50°-60°F (10°-15°C), summer 60°-85°F (15°-30°C)


when temperatures are low, growing streps on wicks may be a problem unless there is supplemental artificial light. it might be necessary to repot and water from above. here are three examples of temperature problems and solutions.

Example OneA grower in the temperate latitudes grows streps on a cold windowsill or in a three-

season room (below 59°F, 15°C) in winter, without additional light. we would suggest that after a robust spring and summer development, the grower should transplant the plants into fresh mix. if the plants are transplanted in November, they should be watered moderately without fertilizer for the next two months. in February, as it becomes warmer and daylight increases, the plants will start to grow faster, consuming more water, which ought to be supplemented with fertilizer. in early March all streptocarpus plants should be transplanted into fresh mix.

Example Twoin winter, a grower keeps the strep plants on a cold windowsill, but provides

additional illumination. if the lamps do not lead to an increase in air temperature above the plants of over 59°F (15°C), the grower should follow the scheme in the first example. Surprised? As we have said, low temperature slows down all biochemical processes of the plant, including the most important ones such as photosynthesis and respiration. Adding light, regardless of its intensity and duration, is not likely to be enough to stimulate the plants to grow like they do in spring and summer.

Example Three The same plants in winter, but now on a warm windowsill, and without an additional

illumination. Chances are that the room is heated. Elevated temperature increases respiration rate as well as all other energy-consuming physiological processes. At the same time, due to an insufficient amount of light, photosynthesis would not be efficient enough to replenish the plants’ resources. For the long term, with such imbalances, the plants would exhaust their resources and eventually die. in this case, it is very important to protect streps from the sources of heat. if the windowsill is close to a heat source, it would be necessary to put some insulation material in between – a piece of regular foam would do. Also, the grower should note possible warm air currents from other heating elements, including the heat pump, or the same radiator. warm air currents should not reach the plants. if these protective measures are successful in cooling the windowsill to approximately 59°F or below, follow the example above. When is the Temperature Too High?

The temperature range of 82-90°F (28-32°C) is the critical high temperature for various streptocarpus hybrids. As a rule, for the hybrids that clearly have xerophytic (drought-resistant) features (e.g., S. ‘DS-little Cloud’ and S. ‘DS-Aphrodisiac’), critical temperature would be higher than for the other hybrids. Above a certain temperature threshold, in time, streptocarpus plants start to suffer from processes leading to death. let us consider these processes in more detail.

increase in temperature generally accelerates most processes, including respiration and photosynthesis. it would seem that if everything is harmonious an increased rate of growth would result. But when the temperature reaches a critical stage, photosynthesis sharply slows down and comes to almost a complete halt. Respiration rate, on the other hand, continues to increase. Prolonged imbalance of these important processes leads to problems. in particular, it brings about an accumulation of ammonia, which is very toxic to plants. The plant’s tissues are getting poisoned, and the plant’s protective functions are weakened, opening the way for bacteria and pathogenic fungi. in some cases, the plant can rot within a single day. Once started, it is impossible to stop this process.

it should be noted that temporary increases in temperature above the critical range are not as damaging as prolonged exposure. For example, it would be much worse for


streptocarpus to stay overnight at a temperature of 86°F (30°C) than to be exposed for a few minutes to 104°F (40°C). Streptocarpus plants can survive even a couple of hours at a temperature of 95°F, but they would be in trouble were they to suffer such a tempera-ture all day.

Elevated temperatures accelerate the physiological processes non-uniformly, and some processes accelerate much less than others. That leads to weakened tissues (such as weak, long, thin stalks and large, loose, Dumbo-eared leaves) that are readily susceptible to disease, chlorosis (pale leaves without sufficient amount of chlorophyll) and necrosis (death of a plant’s tissues). What should be done if the temperature is too high?

Example Four if the air conditioning breaks down and for several days the temperature remains

above 82°F (28°C), streptocarpus will lose turgor and will look sick. in this case, some inexperienced growers think that the plant is lacking water, and they increase humidity in the room, or water the plant more. This is a common mistake. Quite often, they further exacerbate the situation by placing streps in mini-greenhouses.

in reality, only in very rare cases will streptocarpus suffer from low humidity. So what should be done? The plant actually has the ability to cool itself by increasing transpiration: water evaporation through the stomata. The plant just needs a little help. Air movement helps water to evaporate from the leaf surface. Open the windows, break

Both photos: Non-heated three season room in Ukraine in May. Winter temperature 45°-65°F (7°-18°C)


out the fans, spray the plants with distilled or reverse osmosis water. water droplets will evaporate from the surface of plant leaves and, in the process, cool the plant. we should remember the laws of physics: to evaporate water, energy must be absorbed, and thus temperature would decrease. Drier air and better airflow make for higher evaporation, which causes the plant’s temperature to drop. By repeating the process of spraying the plant every hour or so, it is possible to protect it from overheating even for days. (Pavel says: when i did not have air-conditioners, for five years, i saved my plants in the greenhouse using this method. in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, summer day temperature can reach 104°F (40°C). From 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., i would shade the greenhouse and spray my plants with water hourly.)

Keep in mind that the leaves should not be sprayed if they are in direct sunlight. water droplets form mini lenses, and by focusing the light, they can burn the plant.

Now we understand why streptocarpus should not be placed into greenhouses with 100% humidity. As the air already has all the water it can hold, water cannot evaporate from the leaves, and the plants cannot cool themselves. At the same time, the physiological processes in the plants cells do not stop; they keep breathing and, as breathing generates heat, the plant is heated from the inside. Think of snowdrops (spring flowers) that use their increased respiration to stay warm as they grow and bloom from under snow early spring.Temperature Fluctuations and Drafts.

For most tropical plants, temperature fluctuations could be fatal, but not for streps. Since the majority of the native species grow on the mountain slopes, and at a considerable elevation, plants are adapted to both wind and temperature fluctuations. Therefore, temperature fluctuations between the critical temperatures (from 32°to 86°F) do not pose a threat to streps. This quality makes it possible to grow streptocarpus in places and conditions that would not be suitable for other tropical plants. Feel free to open the window –streps are not afraid of drafts. Even sleet that may accidentally get in through the open window is not a threat. A stream of cold air from the air-conditioner is of no concern. Streptocarpus would not catch cold. Actually, temperature drops may be beneficial. Abrupt nightly drops in temperature would increase the synthesis of pigments and that will make the flower brighter with colors more saturated. On the other hand, a rapid increase of temperature above critical 86°F (30°C) could be a signal to the plant to drop its flowers. The plant would try to protect itself by decreasing the surface that evaporates water in attempting to conserve resources. Flowers have no chlorophyll, and thus do not contribute to photosynthesis. however, they do breathe, and a lot. Therefore, to grow colorful flowers on strong peduncles, the temperature should be lowered. The ideal temperature for flowering is between 59°and 82°F (15°and 20°C).Temperature and Light

The general rule regarding temperature and light is that lower light intensity should be matched with reduced temperature. For example, if streps are grown only under natural light at mid-latitudes (northern U.S. and Canada), the optimum temperature in November and February is between 59°and 68°F (15°and 20°C) and in December and January in the range between 50°and 59°F (10°and 15°C).

Unnamed streptocarpus hybrid by Pavel


if the above seems to be menacing or complicated, take heart. if these factors are taken into account as much as possible, the plants will appreciate it and flourish; if not, they will probably be okay anyway. Common Misconceptions of Streptocarpus and Temperature1. “One cannot (or it is extremely hard to) grow streptocarpus in southern states like

Florida or Arizona.”That is true, if one lives in a tent. For those who live in a reasonably modern home with electricity and air-conditioning it really does not matter whether streptocarpus are grown in the South or in the North. if so, why do so many people complain that they lose a lot of plants, sometimes the entire collection?

we have been told that the indoor temperature in summer ranges from 75°to 82°F, which is not critical to the streps. But streps are still dying. here are a few reasons why it may happen.

1) Your plant ambient temperature is much higher than you think. Measure the temperature around your plants and compare it to the temperature of the thermostat. Temperatures can fluctuate in various parts of the room, especially around windows, doors and under artificial lights, and also especially if your air conditioning is undersized or oversized. your beloved plants don’t have legs and can’t go to the cooler places. Temperature should be measured where your plants are growing. if you have artificial lights the temperature should be measured somewhere on the highest place where you grow streps. And we know warm air rises.

what is to be done if indeed you put a thermometer where your plants live and discover that the temperature is much higher than the reading of the thermostat. if it is not an option to change the air conditioning and/or settings, you can try these options:

• Putyourstrepsonthelowestshelves.• Installafanneartheplantstohelpequalizethetemperature.• Filterthelightfromyourwindowsafter10a.m.if you need to supplement insufficient natural light with artificial light (a small

window for example) only do so during the coolest time of the day. you can set your timer to turn lights on at 3-4 a.m. and off when natural light intensifies (10 a.m. for

Streptocarpus ‘DA-Lacy Cloudlet’


example). if you exclusively grow under lights, you can switch day and night. give your plants light during the night and let them rest in the dark during the day. lastly, be very careful with water. Plants may be wilted but still don’t need water. water only if the soil is dry. (Olga says: i grow my plants only under fluorescent lights. in summer the temperature near my plants can go up to 88°F or even higher during the daytime. i still did not lose a single plant. Even so, i still would not recommend this temperature regimen to anybody. i am planning to install better air conditioning.)

2) If the temperature was measured correctly and your thermometer near the plants shows 80°F for example, then it is not the temperature that is directly causing the decline of your plants. The only answer is that the other parameters were far from optimal. you might ask why other parameters did not negatively influence the growth before, in winter for example when the temperature was 68°F. The answer is that all plant processes greatly speed up when temperature is higher. (Accelerated physiological processes are not necessarily good.) Quickly growing, respiring, transpiring plants do not have time to compensate for the other adverse conditions. what other conditions are we talking about? it can be light or soil, for example. we suspect that in most cases it is the soil that is especially at fault since it may consist of dozens of components. Soil also has a lot of important living organisms collectively called microbiota. if you mix your own soil, then ph, microbiota, and other parameters also can be shifted because of higher temperature. That does not usually happen when you buy the right soil with buffering components (ph stabilizers) and the right mix of microorganisms that nourish and protect your plants against bad bacteria and fungi (root rot, for example). we will talk about this in detail in future installments. 2. “The lowest temperature streptocarpus will tolerate is 59°F (15°C).”

That is simply not true. All hybrids tolerate temperature drops to at least 50°F (10°C), and many to as low as 32°F (0°C).3. “Streptocarpus require diurnal temperature differences.”

while temperature fluctuation can be good for some coloration, it is not at all necessary to the plant’s growth and bloom. The root of this misconception could be that some well-known mountain plants, such as cymbidium orchids, indeed require certain temperature fluctuations to bloom. That does not apply to streptocarpus. Experience shows that streptocarpus grow and bloom beautifully, even when in an environment of automatically controlled, unchanging temperature. 4. “Streptocarpus can withstand only very limited diurnal temperature fluctuations.”

Not true. Streptocarpus can easily withstand fairly large temperature fluctuations. For example, they would be perfectly happy with 77°F (25°C) day, and 50°F (10°C) night temperatures.5. “Streptocarpus can be grown easily in greenhouses with summer daytime

temperatures reaching 95°-104°F (35°-40°C)”.At first glance, it may seem reasonable, since Streptocarpus species are native to Africa.

however, as we have mentioned, in their native environment, streptocarpus plants occupy certain environmental niches where they are not subject to such high temperatures. we contacted growers with greenhouses that were not built for streptocarpus and not equipped with air conditioning. And that’s what we heard. Experienced growers sometimes manage to save streps until autumn by using a special watering regimen. The plants still suffer, but some can indeed survive. They might have distorted, discolored leaves that are not turgid. if they are watered at the wrong time and with the wrong amount, they will quickly die. Since it is very difficult to reproduce, we intentionally would not recommend this method. in short, it is not worth the extra effort to grow streptocarpus in a greenhouse in summer.


Genus + species/hybrid:xachimenantha ‘inferno’, 1: 14*

xa. ‘lionheart ‘A’, 2: 44* achimenes erecta ‘Tiny Red’, 3:

23* a. ‘Aimie Saliba’, 4: 23*

aeschynanthus humilis, 3: 26*; 4: 25*a. longicaulis ‘Kew’, 1: 16*

alsobia ‘Cygnet’, 4: 24*amalophyllon, 1: 49

a. macrophyllum gRE 12904, 1: 47*

a. rupestre RM2006, 1: 15*

Bellonia spinosa, 3: 12*, 15, 18 Besleria, 4: 34-35, 37

B. lutea, 3: 12*, 15, 18 B. cf. racemosa, 4: 36*-37Boea clarkeana, 3: 31, 33, 35* B. hygrometrica, 3: 32*, 34-35*

Briggsia chienii, 3: 34 B. latisepala, 3: 34

Calcareoboea coccinea , 4: 40Chirita, 1: 48-49Chiritopsis, 4: 44

C. xiuningensis, 3: 36 Christopheria xantha, 1: 3 Codonoboea personatiflora, 4: 42Columnea, 4: 34-35, 37

C. ‘Aladdin’s lamp’, 1: 17*C. domingensis, 3: 12*, 15, 18 C. gigantea, 1: 14* C. guttata, 4: 35C. perpulchra, 2: 34*-35 C. aff. peruviana, 4: 37C. purpureovittata, 4: 37C. rangelii, 4: 41C. scandens, 3: 12*, 15, 18 C. sp. indet., 4: 36*-37C. sp. indet., 4: 36*-37C. sp. indet., 4: 36*-37

Corytoplectus speciosus, 4: 37C. cutucuensis, 1: 17*

Cremosperma, 4: 41Cremospermopsis, 4: 11Cyrtandra, 1: 20*; 4: 11

C. sp. “Java”, 4: 25*

Dalbergaria perpulchra, 2: 34-35 Deinocheilos jiangxiensis, 3: 31 Diastema, 1: 48; 4: 37

D. latiflorum, 2: 32 D. vexans, 1: 49

Didymocarpus cortusifolius, 3: 33*-35* D. heucherifolius, 3: 31-32*- 33 D. salviiflorus, 3: 33*-35* D. species, 1: 39; 3: 36 D. sp. nov., 3: 32*-33

Drymonia, 1: 9; 4: 11D. coccinea, 1: 10; 4: 35D. longifolia, 4: 37D. macrantha, 2: 35* D. pendula, 1: 10 D. pudica, 1: front cover*, 9*-

10*-11*-12*-13 D. cf. semicordata, 4: 37D. urceolata, 4: 37

Episcia, 1: 48E. cupreata, 4: 24*E. ‘Noel’ error, 3: 25* E. ‘Pink Smoke’, 4: 18*E. ‘Thad’s Coral Reef’, 1: 17* E. xantha, 1: 3

Epithema species, 1: 42 Eucodonia, 1: 48

Gasteranthus calcaratus, 4: 41G. dressleri, 4: 41G. magentatus, 4: 41G. pansamalanus, 4: 41G. quitensis, 4: 41

Gesneria, 3: 9; 4: 11G. christii, 3: 10 G. clarensis, 3: 15 G. cf. ekmanii, 3: 20* G. fruticosa, 3: 12*, 15, 18 G. haitiensis, 3: 14*, 15 G. hypoclada, 3: 18, 20* G. odontophylla, 3: front

cover*, 15-16* G. reticulata, 3: 18 G. species, 3: 18-19* G. viridiflora subsp.

acrochordonanthe, 3: 18, 20* Gloxinella lindeniana, 1: 48*, 49;

2: 32-33* Gloxinia Fyfiana, 2: 12

G. perennis, 4: 37G. speciosa, 2: 12

Gyrocheilos, 3: 34

Haberlea, 1: 48 H. rhodopensis, 3: 3

Hemiboea cavaleriei, 2: 28 H. folicularis, 2: 27 H. subcapitata, 2: 37*; 3: 31,

35*-36 Henckelia, 1: 18

H. anachoreta, 2: 27 H. ceratoscyphus, 4: front

cover*, 25*H. pradeepiana, 4: 43

Kohleria ‘Borka’, 3: 24* K. ‘Bud’s Solar Flare’, 3: 25* K. peruviana, 4: 37K. ‘Silver Feather’, 1: 16*;

4: 11K. hybrid, 3: 3

lysionotus pauciflorus, 3: 33

Microchirita prostrata, 4: 42Monopyle, 4: 35, 37

M. cf. flava, 4: 37

Nautilocalyx, 4: 35Nematanthus, 4: 41

N. gregarius ‘golden west’, 3: 25*

N. ‘Stoplight’, 2: 32 Niphaea oblonga, 1: 49*

Opithandra primuloides, 4: 44O. wentsaii, 4: 44

Oreocharis, 2: 28 O. acericula, 3: 35* O. auricula, 3: 32*-33O. benthamii, 2: 27 O. chienii, 3: 34*-35*-36 O. dayaoshanioides, 2: front

cover*, 27 O. jiangxiensis, 3: 31* O. latisepala, 3: 34*-35* O. sericea, 3: 32*-33, 35* O. sinohenryi, 2: 27 O. species, 3: 36 O. xiangguiensis, 2: 28 O. wentsaii, 4: 44

Ornithoboea species, 1: 38*, 42

Paraboea dictyoneura, 2: 27* P. glutinosa, 1: 39 P. sp. nov., 2: 24*, 27, back

cover* P. species, 1: 42

Gesneriads INDEX 2015

Volume 65 ~ Numbers 1– 4 ~ Compiled by Judy beCker

issue is indicated first, followed by a colon, and then page number(s). Plant illustrations are indicated by an asterisk (*).


Paradrymonia, 4: 40Pearcea bilabiata, 4: 37

P. hypocyrtiflora, 2: 32 Petrocodon, 2: 28

P. coccinea, 4: 40P. confertifolius, 4: 40P. dealbatus, 2: 27; 4: 40P. hancei, 2: 26* P. multiflorus, 2: 27

Petrocosmea, 1: 18, 49 P. barbata, 4: 19*P. ‘Tiny Tim’, 4: 25*P. minor, 1: 47*

Pheidonocarpa, 3: 9 Phinaea, 1: 48

P. albolineata, 2: 32; 4: 50*P. pulchella, 3: 11

Primulina, 1: 18, 48-49; 2: 28; 4: 4, 11, 40P. atropurpurea, 4: 26*P. ‘Autumn Color of li-

River’, 3: 41* P. ‘Avery’s Amethyst galaxy’,

3: 37* P. ‘Avery’s Amethystinium’,

2: 39* P. ‘Avery’s Debao

Fulmination’, 3: 37* P. ‘Avery’s Dwarf Dragon’,

2: 39* P. ‘Avery’s Eternal galaxy’,

3: 37*P. ‘Avery’s Eternal glisten’,

3: 37* P. ‘Avery’s Eternal horn’,

2: 39* P. ‘Avery’s Eternal lavender’,

3: 37* P. ‘Avery’s Eternal Ruffles’,

3: 38* P. ‘Avery’s Eternal Star’, 2: 40* P. ‘Avery’s Fimbri A1’, 3: 38* P. ‘Avery’s Fimbri Snow’, 3:

38* P. ‘Avery’s galactic yammie’,

3: 38* P. ‘Avery’s glistening galaxy’,

3: 38* P. ‘Avery’s glistening

lavender’, 3: 39* P. ‘Avery’s guilin

Fulmination’, 3: 39* P. ‘Avery’s hK liberty’, 3: 39* P. ‘Avery’s lavender galaxy’,

3: 39* P. ‘Avery’s linear Snow’, 3:

39* P. ‘Avery’s liujiang

Fulmination’, 3: 40* P. ‘Avery’s longi

Fulmination’, 3: 40* P. ‘Avery’s Medicox’, 3: 40*

P. ‘Avery’s MoMo Fantasy’, 2: 39*

P. ‘Avery’s Oriental Dragon’, 3: 40*

P. ‘Avery’s Pink yammie’, 2: 40*

P. ‘Avery’s Universe’, 3: 40* P. ‘Big Apple’, 3: 43* P. cardaminifolia, 4: 40P. ‘Cat’s Blue Ring’, 3: 42* P. ‘Cat’s Flamingo’, 3: 42* P. ‘Cat’s goldfish’, 2: 45* P. ‘Cat’s Spoondrift’, 3: 42* P. ‘Chiaki’, 2: 43* P. chizhouensis, 3: 30 P. congwuensis sp. nov., 2: 27 P. cordata, 2: 28 P. ‘Dan’s Emerald’, 3: 42* P. ‘Dan’s Sparklers’, 3: 41* P. drakei, 4: 26*P. dryas ‘hisako’, 1: 17* P. eburnea, 2: 26, 36*; 3: 30, 36 P. fimbrisepala, 2: 2*; 3: 33 P. ‘Flying wings’, 2: 43* P. glandulosa var.

yangshuoensis, 2: 28 P. jianghuaensis, 4: 44P. laxiflora, 1: 42 P. liboensis, 4: 25*P. ‘little Star’, 2: 44* P. lobulata, 4: 21*, 27*P. ‘loki’, 4: 24*P. longicalyx, 2: 26P. lutea, 2: 26 P. medica, 2: 26 P. ‘Mid-Autumn Festival’,

2: 42* P. minutimaculata, 1: 18*-19* P. ‘Nandia Dreams’, 2: 43*P. ophiopogoides, 3: 26*; 4: 27*P. pinnata, 4: 40P. pinnatifida, 2: 36* P. purpurea, 4: 43P. ‘Rachel’, 3: 23* P. ‘SCBg Crown’, 4: 38*P. ‘SCBg huangzuan’, 2: 42* P. ‘SCBg Purple Cloud’, 4:

39*P. ‘SCBg Rainbow’, 4: 39*P. ‘SCBg Red Butterfly’, 4:

39*P. ‘SCBg Zixia’, 2: 41* P. ‘Summer Song’, 2: 42* P. swinglei, 1: 42* P. tabacum, 2: 25-26P. ‘Tan Muscular Man’, 3: 41* P. xiuningensis, 3: 30, 35*-36 P. xiziae, 3: 30*-31, 35* P. yangshuoensis, 4: 43-44P. yungfuensis, 4: 26*

Pseudochirita species, 1: 42

ramonda, 1: 48 r. myconi, 3: 3 r. nathaliae, 1: 50*; 4: 42r. serbica, 4: 42

raphiocarpus petelotii, 1: 17* r. species, 1: 39

resia, 4:11rhynchotechum obovatum, 1:

39, 42 r. species, 1: 39

rhytidophyllum, 3: 9 r. auriculatum, 3: 12*, 18, 20* r. bicolor, 3: 15, 18 r. leucomallon, 3: 13*, 15 r. species, 3: 18-19*

Saintpaulia, 1: 18; 2: 2S. ‘Chicago Flare’, 3: 25*

Sarmienta scandens, 4: 15*Seemannia gymnostoma, 1: 46*,

49 S. sylvatica, 4: 34-35, 37

Sinningia, 3: 47; 4: 43S. ‘Anita Baldwin’, 3: 25* S. ‘Apricot Bouquet’, 3: 47, 50 S. barbata ‘itamaraju’, 1: 15* S. brasiliensis, 1: 3 S. ‘Bright Eyes’, 3: 48* S. bullata, 3: 48*, 50; 4: 44S. ‘Cajun Sunrise’, 2: 38* S. ‘Cajun Sunset’, 2: 38* S. canescens, 3: 3S. canescens error, 3: 48* S. cardinalis, 3: 3, 50 S. cardinalis ‘Red Coat’, 3: 3 S. cardinalis peloric hybrid,

3: 3 S. ‘Celestial Mist’, 4: 38*S. ‘Chancey’s Mystery’, 3: 24* S. concinna, 3: 49 S. conspicua, 3: 26*, 49 S. defoliata, 1: back cover*; 3:

27*, 49-50 S. ‘Deep Purple Dreaming’,

3: 26*S. ‘Ellen hunt’, 2: 44* S. ‘Esther’, 3: 23* S. eumorpha, 2: 15; 3: 50 S. ‘Forever Adele’, 2: 38* S. glazioviana, 3: 50 S. guttata, 3: 48*, 49 S. ‘hCy’s Cherry Bells’, 3: 49* S. ‘heartland’s Flashlight’,

3: 49 S. ‘heaven’s gate’, 2: 38* S. helleri, 4: 2, 10S. helioana, 3: 49 S. insularis, 3: 50 S. leopoldii, 1: 14*


S. leucotricha, 3: 3, 48* (mislabeled as S. canescens)

S. ‘li’l georgie’, 3: 25* S. lindleyi, 3: 49 S. lineata, 3: 3 S. macrophylla, 1: 15*; 2: 17 S. macropoda hybrid, 3: 3 S. micans error, 3: 47* S. muscicola, 3: 49 S. pusilla, 3: 49-50 S. regina, 2: 17 S. richii ‘Robson lopes’, 3: 49 S. species “ibitioca”, 3: 27* S. speciosa, 2: 2, 12*, 13*, 14*,

15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 32*, 34*; 3: 47, 49-50

S. speciosa ‘Avenida Niemeyer’, 2: 12*, 16

S. speciosa “Empress Mix”, 3: 49*

S. speciosa ‘imbe’, 2: 17, 19*S. speciosa ‘Merry Christmas’,

4: 16*S. speciosa ‘Pedra lisa’, 2: 17*-

18*, 20; 3: 49 S. speciosa ‘Poco Parado’, 2: 17S. tubiflora, 3: 47, 49 S. tuberosa, 4: 28*S. villosa, 3: 49

Smithiantha ‘Jimi hendrix’, 3: 24* S. ‘Pat’s Pet Donkey’, 1: 14*

Sphaerorrhiza burchellii, 3: 3 S. sarmentiana, 1: 15*

Streptocarpus, 4: 40, 43S. ‘Embossed’, 2: 45* S. ‘Fred’s Baby girl’, 2: 40* S. ‘Fred’s Crystal Dragon’,

2: 40* S. ‘Fred’s Jeffrey Bean’, 2: 40* S. ‘Fred’s Midnight Kisses’,

2: 41* S. ‘Fred’s Moon lines’, 2: 41* S. ‘Fred’s yellow ice’, 2: 41* S. ‘gator’s Tail’, 3: 27* S. hybrid, 3: 3 S. ‘iced Artistry’, 3: 23* S. ‘Katherine Jeanne’, 4: 38*S. ‘little Kan’, 4: 18*S. ‘Pink Elephant’, 2: 39* S. ‘Raydar’s Tensie’, 3: 24* S. ‘Roselle’, 2: 44* S. saxorum ‘Variegated’, 3: 26*S. ‘Simon’s Snowdon’, 4: 38*

Titanotrichum oldhamii, 2: 21

Author:Becker, J., 2: 29-31 Bonner, C.A., 2: 31 Bruning, T. and D. Carson,

1: 36 Bruning, T. and P. Susi, 4: 33Cairampoma Barros, l., 4:

34-37Carson, D., and T. Bruning,

1: 36 Cichocki, K., 1: 18-20; 2: 20,

46; 4: 45Clark, J.l., 3: 9-22 Ertelt, J., and C. williams, 1:

9-13 Farrice, g., 1: 44; 2: 3-6; 3: 36;

4: 4-7Fontes, R., 3: 44-45 Kroll, P. 3: 28laVergne, A., 1: 33 lee, P., 4: 14-28, 29-30lee, T. S., 1: 21; 2: 9-10 Martens, D., 1: 46-50; 2: 32-34,

48-50; 3: 47-50; 4: 49-50Mavity-hudson, J., 4: 1Maciejewski, S., 1: 37-43; 2:

35-37 Nicholson, i., 2: 38-45; 3: 37-

43; 4: 38-39Re, l., 4: 3Ripps, C., 1: 3-8; 2: 46; 3: 3-8;

4: 45 Robinson, S., 4: 31-32Schaeffer, M., 4: 30Schneider, M., 4: 31-32Shalit, P., 1: 2; 2: 2; 3: 2; 4: 2Stewart, B., 4: 40-44Susi, P., 1: 1, 33; 2: 1, 11, 21-23,

24-28, 34-35; 3:1; 4: 47-48Susi, P. and T. Bruning, 4: 33williams, C., and J. Ertelt, 1:

9-13Xin, h., 3: 29-36 Zaitlin, D., 2: 12-20

Subject/Title:Auction 2014, 1: 36 Auction 2015 - Oakland,

California, 4: 33Awards of Appreciation, 4: 31-32Back to Basics: Expand your Collection, 1:

46-50 increasing humidity, 4: 49-50 Sinningias, 3: 47-50 your First Convention or

First Time Bringing Entries, 2: 48-50

Belisle, M., 3: 8

Botanical Expedition to haiti: Revisiting Erik Ekman’s 1920s Collecting localities, 3: 9-22

Botanical Review No. 41, 4: 40-44

Changes to hybrid Seed list 4Q14, 1: 44

Changes to hybrid Seed list 2Q15, 3: 36

Changes to Species Seed list 1Q15, 2: 46

Changes to Species Seed list 3Q15, 4: 45

Collecting Seeds in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China, 3: 29-36

Convention Board Review, 4: 3Donations, 2: 21-22; 4: 47-48Drymonia pudica: An

Exploration of the Shy Drymonia, 1: 9-13

Flower Show Roundup long island gesneriad

Society, 3: 23 Northern illinois gesneriad

Society, 3: 24 Omaha African Violet and

gesneriad Society, 3: 25 Puget Sound gesneriad

Society, 3: 27 Toronto gesneriad Society,

3: 36From the Editor, 1: 2; 2: 2; 3:

2; 4: 2gesneriaceae Diversity in Peru:

From Fieldwork to the lab, 4: 34-37

gesneriad Prospecting Puzzle Answers, 1: 50

gesneriad Registrations, 3: 37-43; 4: 38-39

gesneriad Society 59th Annual Convention, 1: 21-27; 2: 9-11

Auction, 2: 11 Flower Show Awards, 4: 14-28 Flower Show Schedule, 1:

28-32 Speakers, 1: 33-35gesneriad Society, inc. Call for the 2015 Annual

Membership Meeting, 2: 8 Call for the 2015 Board of

Directors Meeting, 2: 8 Financial Report 2014, 3:

44-45gesneriads by the golden gate,

1: 21gesneriads by the golden gate

– California here we Are!, 4: 8-13


gesneritrek 14 – More than Enough gesneriads!, 2: 24-28

hybrid Seed Fund, 2: 3-6; 4: 4-7

index 2014, 2: 29-31in Memoriam, 3: 28; 4: 33in Memoriam: Monte watler,

3: 28My Experiences as Awards

Chair, 4: 29-30Photography Tips from Three

Experts, 2: 32-37President’s Message, 1: 1; 2: 1,

22; 3: 1; 4: 1Propagating gesneriads, 1:

18-20

Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws of The gesneriad Society, inc., 2: 7-8

Recently Registered gesneriads, 2: 38-45

Sampling of gesneriad-related Facebook Pages, 2: 22-23

Seed Fund – hybrids, 2: 3-6; 4: 4-7

Seed Fund – Species, 1: 3-8; 3: 3-8

Seed Fund Contest Results, 2: 20

Sinningia speciosa: A highly Diverse Taxon, 2: 12-20

Some 2014 Chapter Shows National Capitol Area, 1: 16 New England, 1: 14 Ohio State African Violet

Society, 1: 17 San Francisco gesneriad

Society, 1: 153 Short Poems, 2: 31watler, M., 3: 28 welcome to Oakland,

California!, 2: 9-10wild Vietnam – leeches,

Vipers, Bat Boys, and gesneriads, 1: 37-43

Irwin Wagman – A Remembrance by Paul SusiwhEN i BECAME PRESiDENT OF ThE gesneriad Society in 2011, i was fortunate to have irwin wagman at my side as Parliamentarian and Bylaws Chairperson. To most people, the position of Parliamentarian is most likely one that is ill defined and concerned with obtuse legal procedures. in fact, the Parliamentarian is someone on whom the president can rely and depend, who is there to not only support the president in time of procedural controversy but who also makes sure that the president doesn’t make some outrageous gaff while chairing a meeting of the Board of Directors. As Parliamentarian, irwin did all this and did it well. he also was quick to respond to questions concerning new or revised chapter or Society bylaws, frequently offering suggestions that improved the proposed documents. whenever i contacted him, irwin would say “i love this job!” irwin passed away on November 28, 2015. he will be missed.

http://www.hobbygreenhouse.org/


Coming EventsMary Schaeffer ~ Newark, DE, USA ~ <[email protected]>

Gesneriad Society Events

April 3 – Toronto, Ontario Toronto gesneriad Society Annual Show and Sale, Toronto Botanical garden, Floral hall, 777 lawrence Avenue East, Toronto (North york), Ontario, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission $2. Additional information:

http://torontogesneriadsociety.orgApril 9-10 – Oyster Bay, NY long island gesneriad Society Show and Plant Sale, Planting Fields Arboretum Conference Center, Oyster Bay. April 9, 1 to 4 p.m.; April 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional information: Ben Paternoster 631-549-6788 or [email protected] 9-10 – Fairport, NY African Violet and gesneriad Society of Rochester Show and Sale “Dancing with Violets

and gesneriads,” Meadowbrook Estates, 55 Ayrault Road, Fairport. April 9, noon to 5 p.m.; April 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional information: http://avgsr.org or email [email protected] 23-24 – Baldwinsville, NY The African Violet and gesneriad Society of Syracuse Annual Show & Sale, Beaver lake Nature Center, Baldwinsville, Ny. April 23, 1 to 5 p.m.; April 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional information: [email protected] 5-9 – Wilmington, DE – 60th Annual Gesneriad Society Convention hosted by the Delaware African Violet & gesneriad Society. Additional information: http://gesneriadsociety.org/conventions/2016-convention-wilmington-delaware/

(also available for anytime viewing for three months after the live event) January 26: growing, Showing, and hybridizing Episcias with Thad Scaggs February 9: growing, Showing, and hybridizing Miniature Sinningias with

Dale Martens March 1: growing and Showing Primulinas with Mel grice April 5: Meet the gesneriad Family: learn about the African Violet sister

plants with Dale MartensFor additional information or to register, go to:

http://shop.gesneriadsociety.org/collections/webinars

Other Events of Interest to Society Members: Webinars

April 2 – Windsor, CT windsor African Violet Society Annual Show and Sale, grace Episcopal Church, 311 Broad St, windsor, CT. 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Additional information: http://www.windsorafricanviolets.org, [email protected] or 860-242-2841

April 2-3 – Sacramento, CA Capital City AVS Annual Judged Show and Sale, Sacramento garden & Arts Center, 3330 McKinley Blvd, Sacramento, CA. Saturday: 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional information: www.sacviolets.org Kathy Norton ([email protected])

Other Events of Interest to Society Members: Shows and Sales

http://torontogesneriadsociety.org





http://www.windsorafricanviolets.org

http://www.sacviolets.org/

http://www.sacviolets.org/



http://avgsr.org




http://shop.gesneriadsociety.org/collections/webinars


Gesneriad RegistrationsIrina Nicholson ~ Lakewood, CO, USA ~ [email protected]

Sinningia ‘Royal Robe’, 2015, iR151295, Ray Coyle, New york (S. bragae [formerly S. sp. “ibitioca”] x S. ‘Flair’). Cross made 05/08, planted 07/08, and first flowered 04/09. Reproducible only vegetatively. Upright erect growth habit. leaves dark green, 10 cm long x 10 cm wide with 6 cm petiole, bullate, orbicular with cordate base, crenate margin and rounded tip. Calyx split, olive green, 2 cm. Pedicel 3-4 cm with 1-2 flowers. Corolla salverform, 4 cm long x 4 cm wide, dark purple; yellow throat with purple spotting. Shorter growing than S. bragae, darker foliage and higher bloom count.

Sinningia ‘Lauren’, 2015, iR151296, Ray Coyle, New york (S. guttata x S. sp. ‘Cabo Frio’). Cross made 04/07/07, planted 06/25/07, and first flowered 02/08. Reproducible only vegetatively. Compact erect multicrown growth habit. leaves medium green, 10 cm long x 5-6 cm wide with 4 cm petiole, elliptic with cuneate base, crenate margin and acute tip. Calyx split, pale green, 2 cm. Pedicel 2 cm with 1 flower. Corolla salverform, 5 cm long x 4 cm wide, light lavender/darker spotting, white throat with dark lavender lines and spotting. Smaller in height than S. guttata, grows multicrowned, blooms from each leaf axil.

Smithiantha ‘LA Yellow Brick Road’, 2015, iR151297, lacera Dewilde, TN (S. ‘Jan’s Surprise’ x S. ‘Tropical Sunset’). Cross made 01/11, planted 10/11, and first flowered 04/12. Reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit up to 48 cm. leaves dark green, mottled with light green areas, 12.5 cm long x 12 cm wide with 8 cm petiole, hairy, orbicular with serrate margin, cordate base, and acute tip. Calyx split, medium green, 5 mm. Pedicel 3 cm with 9 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 3.6 cm long x 3.1 cm wide, bright yellow tube with orange top and bright red dots.

Primulina ‘WF’s Yellow Bowl’, 2015, iR151298, yi-gang wei; Fang wen; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. lutea x P. laxiflora). Cross made 07/07/12, planted 10/12/12, and first flowered 08/03/13. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green in brightly scattered light, 10-12 cm long x 8-9 cm wide with 5-6 cm petiole, ovate with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, smooth. Calyx split, green,

ca. 1 cm long. Pedicel ca. 2.5 cm, ca. 5 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 2.5-3 cm long, 1.8-2.5 cm wide, pale yellow. The hybrid inherited the main color of pollen parent (yellow) but looks brighter. The corolla shape, obviously inherited from the seed parent, looks similar to a bowl. The shape of corolla in yellow is unique among all species and garden varieties of Primulina at present. Flowering period is long, from August to late October.



Primulina ‘WYG’s Winter Bouquet’, 2015, iR151299, yi-gang wei; Fang wen; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. luzhaiensis x P. luzhaiensis). Chance seedling selection, seed mutation. Cross made 12/01/11, planted 03/25/12, and first flowered 11/18/13. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green, pubescent, 6-8 cm long x 4-6 cm wide with 2-4 cm petiole, elliptic with serrate margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, green, 1-1.5 cm long. Pedicel 1.5-2.2 cm, 4-6 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 4-5

cm long, 2-2.5 cm wide, pinkish purple, with two yellow stripes in corolla. The most important difference from its parents and selected siblings is having extremely short peduncles and pedicels; compared with P. ‘wF’s hairy Monster’, the shape of corolla is slimmer and the size of corolla is smaller; the color of corolla is deeper so that the corolla looks pinkish purple. The flowering period is from the end of Nov. to Dec. so that it is different from other species and garden varieties.

Primulina ‘WYG’s Sweet Heart’, 2015, iR151300, Zhi-guo Zhao; Fang wen; yi-gang wei; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. cordata x P. minutimaculata). Cross made 07/02/13, planted 10/10/13, and first flowered 05/08/14. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves dark green, ca. 9 cm long x ca. 6.5 cm wide with 8-10 cm petiole, elliptic with crenate margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, greenish- purple, ca. 1.5 cm long. Pedicel ca. 2.8 cm, 1-3 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, ca. 5.5 cm long, ca. 3 cm wide, bright pinkish purple. Corolla, tube, throat and petals have dark

purple stripes and 2 yellow stripes deep in the throat. Prefers bright natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich medium (ph≥7.0); sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Bronzed Sunset’, 2015, iR151301, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. lutea x P. minutimaculata). Cross made 06/28/13, planted 10/22/13, and first flowered 07/13/14. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves bright to dark green with white or pale yellow veins, ca. 12 cm long x ca. 8 cm wide with 9-10 cm petiole, elliptic with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, smooth. Calyx split, pale

purple or purplish green, 1.5-1.8 cm long. Pedicel 2-2.5 cm, 6 or more flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 4-5 cm long, 2.5-3 cm wide, bronzed with purple shading and stripes. The bronzed corolla and the bright to dark green leaf blades with white or pale yellow veins are not present in any other garden varieties or natural species. The veins on the leaves have the color of leather similar to the pollen parent but tend to be yellowish and the border of vein color looks unclear. Prefers bright natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich medium; sensitive to overfertilization.


Primulina ‘WYG’s Purple Sunset’, 2015, iR151302, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. minutimaculata x P. lutea). Cross made 07/14/13, planted 10/22/13, and first flowered 08/03/14. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green with pale yellow to yellow veins, ca. 11 cm long x ca. 7.5 cm wide with 6-9 cm petiole, elliptic with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, smooth. Calyx split, reddish purple, ca. 1.6 cm long. Pedicel ca. 3 cm, ca.16

flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, ca. 5.5 cm long, ca. 3 cm wide, bright purple with dark purple stripes. The bright purple corolla with dark purple stripes and lots of flowers on one cyme are not present in any other garden varieties or natural species. The veins on the leaves have the color of leather while the seed parent has yellow veins. Texture of the leaf blade is intermediate between the parents. Prefers bright natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich medium; sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Violet Ruby’, 2015, iR151303, yi-gang wei; Fang wen; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. luvittata x P. rotundifolia). Cross made 07/07/12, planted 10/12/12, and first flowered 08/03/13. Fertile, but reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green to dark green in the bright scattered light, 10-12 cm long x ca. 8-9 cm wide with 5-6 cm petiole, orbicular with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, dark green, .9-1.4 cm long. Pedicel ca. 3.5 cm, ca. 6 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 2.5-3 cm long, 1.6-2.2 cm wide, dark purplish red. The leaf shape of the hybrid is somewhere in between the leaf shape of the two parents. with the loose cymes and many

flowers in dark purplish red corolla it has a higher flower count than its pollen parent. The florescence lasts from August to November. Prefers bright natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich medium; sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Purple River’, 2015, iR151304, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. pseudoeburnea x P. lijiangensis). Cross made 05/04/12, planted 08/30/12, and first flowered 06/26/14. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves bright green with white pubescences, ca. 12 cm long x ca. 8 cm wide with 9-10 cm petiole, elliptic with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, pale green to green, 1.0-1.5 cm long. Pedicel ca. 2 cm, 10 or more flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, ca. 3 cm long, ca. 2.2 cm wide, violet to bright

reddish purple corolla with white throat. The hybrid inherited the flower color of the seed parent, the strange stripes on petals are reduced, the brightness of the petal color is an improvement in comparison with the pollen parent. has a loose inflorescence with lots of cymes and flowers. Prefers bright scattered natural light, can be adapted to artificial light, moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich medium; sensitive to overfertilization.


Primulina ‘WF’s Pink Waltz’, 2015, iR151305, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. roseoalba x P. anisocymosa ined). Cross made 09/09/13, planted 12/23/13, and first flowered 09/24/14. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green to yellowish green, thick, leathery, strigose on both surfaces, ca.15 cm long x 12-13 cm wide with 8-12 cm petiole, orbicular with entire margin, cuneate base, and

rounded tip, hairy. Calyx split, brownish green, ca. 1.5 cm long. Pedicel ca. 2-3 cm, 8 or more flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, ca. 5 cm long, 2.2-2.5 cm wide, bright pinkish purple. The corolla size is bigger than its parents and it can be distinguished by the bright pinkish purple to purple corolla without two yellow stripes inside; instead it has about ten dark purple slender stripes, and the tube is the thicker infundibuliform. has a loose inflorescence with lots of cymes and flowers. Prefers bright scattered natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich with ph ≥7.0, sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Pink Song’, 2015, iR151306, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. roseoalba x P. xiuningensis). Cross made 06/01/13, planted 10/11/13, and first flowered 06/19/14. Sterile. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves pale green to green, thin, chartaceous, pubescent on both surfaces, 12-16 cm long x 8-10 cm wide with 4-6 cm petiole, ovate with entire margin, cuneate base, and rounded tip, hairy. Calyx split,

pale green to green, ca. 1 cm long. Pedicel 1.5-2 cm, 10-24 or more flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 2-2.2 cm long, 1-1.2 cm wide, dark pink with yellow shade, two dark yellow to orange stripes in corollas with glands inside. The corolla size is between the father and the mother, but the flower number on one cyme is obviously inherited from its father. The two dark yellow to orange stripes in corolla and the dark pink corolla with yellow shade are the main difference in comparison with any garden varieties or species. Enjoys higher humidity; prefers bright scattered natural light; moist but well-drained substrate; and weak-acid substrate (equal to ph 6.8); sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Hairy Monster’, 2015, iR151307, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. luzhaiensis x P. luzhaiensis). Chance seedling selection, seed mutation. Cross made 12/01/11, planted 03/25/12, and first flowered 11/22/13. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green, with long slightly purplish to white hairs, 8-15 cm long x 6-9.5 cm wide, with inconspicuous 1.5-2.5 cm petiole, ovate with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, pale green to green, 2-2.5 cm long. Pedicel 1.3-4.5 cm, ca. 6

flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 6-6.5 cm long, ca. 4 cm wide, light purple to pinkish purple. Selected excellent individual from self-crossed progeny of Primulina luzhaiensis. The difference from its parents and siblings is having long slightly purplish to white hairs; the corolla is bigger; cyme has an extra flower. The flowering period is from the end of Nov. to Dec., different from other species and garden varieties.


Primulina ‘WF’s Fuchsia Sunset’, 2015, iR151308, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. pseudoeburnea x P. minutimaculata). Cross made 05/26/13, planted 11/11/13, and first flowered 06/30/14. Sterile. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves green with white or pale yellow veins, thick, leathery, 12-16 cm long x 8-10 cm wide with 4-6 cm petiole, elliptic with entire margin, cuneate base, and acute tip, hairy. Calyx split, bright green, ca. 1.2

cm long. Pedicel ca. 2 cm, ca. 15 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, ca. 3.5 cm long, ca. 1.5 cm wide, pinkish purple to fuchsia. The corolla size is in between the parents, but the flower count per cyme is obviously inherited from the seed parent as well as the pinkish purple to fuchsia of the corolla and the acute apex of petals. The leaf blade has white or pale yellow veins, but it is sparsely strigose, which is different from the parents. Prefers bright scattered natural light, higher humidity, moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich (ph ≥ 7); sensitive to overfertilization.

Primulina ‘WF’s Bicolor Bowl’, 2015, iR151309, Fang wen; yi-gang wei; Zhi-guo Zhao; guangxi institute of Botany and gesneriad Conservation Center of China, guangxi, China (P. laxiflora x P. lutea). Cross made 06/16/12, planted 09/28/12, and first flowered 07/17/13. Reproducible only vegetatively. Basal rosette. leaves dark green in bright scattered light, 11-15 cm long x 9-10.5 cm wide with 4.5-5.5 cm petiole, orbicular with entire margin, cuneate base, and rounded tip, smooth. Calyx split, pale green to green, ca. 1.2 cm long. Pedicel ca. 3 cm, 5-8 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 2.5-3.5 cm long, 2-2.5 cm bicolor, the five petals pinkish purple and the corolla tube and inside pale yellow to yellow. The

hybrid inherited the main colors from parents (yellow and purplish blue) so that the color of corolla is bicolor. The shape of corolla obviously inherited from a pollen parent, looks similar to a bowl. The color of the corolla is yellow and purplish blue, unique in any species or garden varieties of Primulina at present. Florescence is long, from July to almost November. Prefers brightly scattered natural light, can be adapted to artificial light; needs moist but well-drained substrate; calcium-rich; sensitive to overfertilization.

Smithiantha ‘Pink Lemonade’, 2015, iR151310, Alcie Maxwell, lA (S. ‘Big Dots Rule’ x S. ‘Vivian’s gift’). Cross made 06/12, first flowered 04/13. Fertile but reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit, 18-24 inches. leaves reddish brown, 5 inches long x 4-6 inches wide with 2-inch petiole, orbicular with crenate margin, cordate base, and acute tip. Calyx split, green, 0.25 inch. Pedicel 1 inch, 30 flowers on raceme. Corolla salverform, 1 inch long x 0.4 inch wide, light yellow tube with yellow throat and olive green streaks. yellow blossoms complement the reddish brown foliage.


Smithiantha ‘Hadouken’, 2015, iR151311, Alcie Maxwell, lA (S. ‘Big Dots Rule’ x S. ‘Vivian’s gift’). Cross made 06/12, first flowered 06/13. Fertile but reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit, 18-24 inches. leaves mottled green with strong reddish brown overlay, 5 inches long x 4 inches wide with 2 inch petiole, orbicular with serrate margin, cordate base, and acute tip. Calyx split, green, 0.25 inch. Pedicel 1 inch, 30 flowers on raceme. Corolla salverform, 1 inch long x 0.75 inch wide, salmon with

yellow throat and maroon streaks. Unique blossom coloration makes the blossom look like a flaming fireball. The color is more intense when grown under cooler conditions.

Smithiantha ‘Southwest’, 2015, iR151312, Alcie Maxwell, lA (S. ‘Big Dots Rule’ x S. ‘Vivian’s gift’). Cross made 06/12, first flowered 04/13. Fertile but reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit, 18-24 inches. leaves reddish-brown, 5 inches long x 4-6 inches wide with 2-3 inch petiole, orbicular with crenate margin, cordate base, and acute tip. Calyx split, green, 0.25 inch. Pedicel 1 inch, 30 flowers on raceme. Corolla salverform, 1.5 inch long x 0.5 inch wide, carnation pink w/ cream throat and maroon streaks. Subtle blossom colors complement the reddish brown foliage. Vigorous. Produces large rhizomes.

Smithiantha ‘Fireball’, 2015, iR151313, Alcie Maxwell, lA (S. ‘Big Dots Rule’ x S. ‘Vivian’s gift’). Cross made 06/12, first flowered 04/13. Fertile but reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit, 18-24 inches. leaves maroon with dark green edges, 6 inches long x 4-6 inches wide with 2-3 inch petiole, orbicular with crenate margin, cordate base, and acute tip. Calyx split, green, 0.25 inch. Pedicel 1 inch, 30 flowers on raceme. Corolla salverform, 1-1.5 inch long x 0.75 inch wide, maroon w/ yellow throat and maroon streaks. Maroon blossoms complement the

maroon foliage. high blossom count. good rhizome production. leaves are darker under stronger light.

Sinningia ‘Owlsee Red Hot’, 2015, iR151314, Alice Maxwell, lA (S. bullata x S. ‘Kevin garnett’). Cross made 10/13, planted 11/13, first flowered 06/21/14. Fertile but reproducible only vegetatively. Erect growth habit, 12-18 inches. leaves dark olive green with red back when mature, light green when young, 5-7 inches long x 3.5 inches wide with 1 inch petiole, elliptical with crenate margin, cordate base, and acute tip, bullate, hairy. Calyx fused, red, 1 inch. Pedicel 2.5 inches, 2 flowers per axil. Corolla salverform, 1-1.5 inches long x 0.25 inches wide, red. Fire-engine red double calyx blossoms complement the dark green fuzzy

foliage with red reverse. Slow to bloom but once blooming, it will bloom continuously with good culture.


DonationsPaul Susi, Development Chairperson ~ <[email protected]>

DURiNg My TEN-yEAR TENURE AS DEVElOPMENT ChAiRPERSON, i have been gratified and encouraged by the generosity of our members in supporting the various educational, research, and conservation efforts of The gesneriad Society. your generosity in supporting the various funds continues to ensure that new gesneriads will be discovered, gesneriad students will receive funding for their educational pursuits and to attend convention, and gesneriad conservation efforts around the world will receive much-needed support. your donations also continue to grow the Frances Batcheller Endow ment Fund, which will ensure the financial stability of the Society in the coming years.

The following tax-deductible donations were made to The gesneriad Society during the period July through December 2015. elViN mCdoNald researCh eNdowmeNt FuNd - $285

Aureliano Bombarely gomez, Susanne haffner, glenview/Northshore African Violet Society, Omaha African Violet and gesneriad Society (in memory of louis “Doc” Miller)

Nellie d. sleeth sCholarship eNdowmeNt FuNd - $1,000Frelinghuysen Arboretum gesneriad Society

FraNCes batCheller eNdowmeNt FuNd - $1,065Kwang-wu Kim (in memory of Frances Batcheller), African Violet and gesneriad Society

of Rochester (in memory of irwin wagman), heart of America gesneriad Society (in memory of Susie “Sue” hill)

studeNts aNd speakers CoNVeNtioN FuNd - $2,269Karyn Cichocki (in lieu of a speaker’s honorarium from the Delaware African Violet and

gesneriad Society), Jeanne Katzenstein, linda and Bob Springer (in memory of Tom Ryan), Barbara Taswell-Miller, Frelinguyen Arboretum gesneriad Society, The Northeast Regional gesneriad Convention (in lieu of undistributed flower show awards donated by Jeanne Katzenstein, Karyn Cichocki, Arleen Dewell, Jill Fischer, Mary lou Robbins, and Bevin Anderson)

CoNserVatioN FuNd - $65Arleen Dewell (in lieu of 2015 Convention Flower Show Award), Sue hoffmann, Barbara

Taswell-Miller

liFe memberships: leo Martin, John wrightson (life Membership receipts are placed in the Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund)

the aNNual appeal - $7,740At the end of each year, a donation request is sent to members of The gesneriad Society. The following members made generous donations to the Conservation Fund in response to the 2015 Annual Appeal. The Society greatly appreciates your support of this important fund that will assist with gesneriad conservation efforts worldwide.

Bevin Anderson, in memory of Monte watler

william A. BarkleyJoan April Blazich, in honor of

Dr. Frank A. BlazichAndrew CathcartKaryn CichockiPeg Crawford

Margaret DePhillippo, in honor of Margaret Cass

Betsy gottshall, in honor of the gesneriad Conservation Center of China

P goudgeMel grice, in honor of Dr. Jeremy Keene

and Stephen Maciejewski



Susan grose, in honor of Becky Fontes, for her work as treasurer

Marilyn heinrichlily huieJeanne KatzensteinFrançois lambertStephen Maciejewski, in honor of wei

yi-gang, wen Fang, and hong XinDale Martens, in honor of

Mauro PeixotoJo Anne MartinezElaine NieceAutumn PartingtonBen PaternosterJune Pistonoharriet Marple Plehn

Molly Schneider, in honor of Vaunez Brakebill

Peter Shalit and Bob ClarkPaul Susi, in honor of Stephen

Maciejewski and Jeremy KeeneAnne VidaverDave ZaitlinDelaware African Violet and gesneriad

Society, in lieu of speaker’s fee for Mark griffith

Frelinghuysen Arboretum gesneriad Society

liberty Bell gesneriad Societylong island gesneriad SocietyNorthern illinois gesneriad Society

Additions:•Columnea polyantha•amalophyllon clarkii USBRg96-336•Gloxinia erinoides ‘Teresina da goias’•Nautilocalyx sp. “Burle Marx”

Seed Fund DonationsDonations mailed from anywhere should be sent to:

Karyn Cichocki79 Beaver Run Road, Lafayette, NJ 07848

Changes to Species Seed List 1Q16Deletions:

alsobia chiapensisalsobia punctataSaintpaulia brevipilosaGloxinia erinoides ‘Alto Paraiso’

Change: Sinningia sp. “ibitioca” to Sinningia bragae

British streptocarpus societyhttp://www.streptocarpussociety.org.uk

To join from the USA/Canada, payment can be made by PAYPAL $10 for a Green Membership with pdf-form newsletter; hardcopy newsletter is $18 per year USA/Canada. A check in US funds for either type of

membership can be made out to Dale Martens and sent to 1247 Island View Drive, Sherrard, IL 61281 USA.

Gesneriads • Begonias • Rare Flowering Plants & Vines

KARTUZ GREENHOUSES Please visit our online catalog www.kartuz.com 1408 Sunset Drive, Dept. g, Vista, CA 92083-6531 760-941-3613

Send orders for species seed to:Carolyn Ripps, 21 Sprain Road, Hartsdale, NY 10530

http://www.streptocarpussociety.org.uk/

http://www.kartuz.com


Seemannia: A Gesneriad with Commercial PotentialJohn Boggan ~ Washington, DC, USA ~ <[email protected]>

(Editor’s note: This article is adapted from John’s blog post, http://dctropics.blogspot.com/2013/10/seemannia-gesneriad-with-commercial.html with the permission and cooperation of the author. All photos by the author)

SEEMaNNIa iS A SMAll SOUTh AMERiCAN gENUS of gesneriad. The species and a few hybrids (primarily my own) are in very limited cultivation, but i believe that with a bit of tweaking they may have some commercial potential as bedding and container plants.

Seemannias have wonderful brightly colored flowers, but the plants are exceedingly boring when not in bloom. One species, Seemannia sylvatica (syn. Gloxinia sylvatica, Seemannia latifolia) has been in cultivation for a very long time and is used as a bedding plant in southern Florida, where it blooms in the winter.

in recent years a new wild collection of Seemannia nematanthodes from Argentina has been sold (as Gloxinia nematanthodes ‘Evita’) by Plant Delights Nursery. working with this and other species, i’m producing a group of hybrids with

better growth habits, more attractive foliage, and a wide range of flower colors, with the ultimate goal of producing plants that are reliably hardy in zone 7.

Seemannia gymnostoma is another species from Argentina. This species has occasionally overwintered in my garden, but returns weakly. Seemannia gymnostoma differs from the others in having a fairly large limb (“petals”) with distinctive speckling.

i’ve grown seemannias for over 20 years but never gave much thought to breeding them. The turning point came with Seemannia purpurascens. This species is typically a tall and rather weedy-looking plant with plain green leaves and small pink flowers, but in the wild is quite variable. New collections from Bolivia with dark leaves pointed me in the direction of producing hybrids with more attractive foliage that have garden interest even when they’re not blooming. My first seemannia hybrid was S. purpurascens ‘Purple Prince’, a cross between two different collections of the species that i hoped would combine the dark foliage of one parent with the larger flowers of the other.

So why do I think this genus has commercial potential?

Seemannia ‘Little Red’, one of the author’s hybrids


http://dctropics.blogspot.com/2013/10/seemannia-gesneriad-with-commercial.html





Seemannia nematanthodes ‘Evita’ in a mixed container

Seemannia nematanthodes ‘Evita’


Seemannia sylvatica (Fairchild Tropical Gardens)Seemannia gymnostoma

Seemannias in the author’s outdoor garden

Crosses between dark-leafed forms of Seemannia purpurascens and S. nematanthodes produced dark-leafed hybrids with bright red flowers.

These in turn crossed with Seemannia gymnostoma produced hybrids with flowers in a wide range of colors.

More recently i’ve been producing and testing pink-flowered hybrids.The bottom photo above shows how seemannias can add color to a tropical-themed bed;

the flowers may be small but they pack a big punch, especially when planted in large groups.Culture: Seemannias grow best in rich, well-drained soil that is neither overly wet nor

overly dry. They will grow and bloom in bright shade but will remain compact and bloom best if given direct sun for part of the day, ideally in the morning. Even in bright light the species and most of the hybrids tend to flop gracefully but can look nice spilling over the edge of a wall or container. Pinching out the tips on young plants will encourage branching and produce more compact, bushy plants. The plants go dormant in the winter, producing scaly rhizomes (exactly like those of the closely related genus achimenes) that


Pink-flowered Seemannia hybrids

Seemannia purpurascens ‘Purple Prince’

Some recent pink-flowered Seemannia hybrids by the author

Seemannias add color to a tropical-themed bed.


should be kept cool and dry. Propaga-tion is from stem cuttings, leaf cuttings, or scaly rhizomes. A scaly rhizome can be broken into pieces, even down to individual scales, and each part will produce a new plant. in the spring, plants can be started under lights indoors for planting out after all danger of frost is past. however, i cannot stress enough that seemannias do not make good houseplants. They can be grown indoors, but usually don’t get enough light and will grow tall and floppy with few flowers. Seemannia nematanthodes and some of the hybrids are hardy to zone 7b (and may survive a warm winter in colder zones) but winter survival is best with perfect drainage and/or dry soil. Seemannias also make excellent container plants.

So why do i think this genus has commercial potential? First and foremost, the plants are very easy to grow and propagate. They have no specialized cultural requirements, are heat-tolerant and more or less pest-free. They produce brightly colored flowers that are very attractive to hummingbirds. They have a long blooming period, from mid-summer until frost during a period when many other flowering plants are pooping out. (in my own garden, they begin to bloom about the same time lobelia cardinalis finishes.) The newer hybrids are attractive even when they are not in bloom — an important consideration for sales. The plants do well both as bedding plants and in containers.

The one hurdle i have yet to overcome is hardiness: none of my hybrids has yet proven hardy in my zone 7a/b garden (but i’m working on it!). Even so, i believe they are worth growing as annuals. i’m currently working to produce dark-leafed hybrids with a wider range of colors on larger flowers.

This last photo shows some of the results from a single cross. i’m still one generation away from getting these flowers with dark foliage, but i’m making those crosses right now.

For further information:Seemannia (article in

September 2010 Petal Tones, the monthly newsletter of the National Capital Area Chapter of the gesneriad Society)

Seemannias as Bedding Plants (article in September 2011 Gleanings, the monthly newsletter of The gesneriad Society)

One of the author’s unnamed Seemannia hybrids


Botanical Review No. 43Bob Stewart ~ Stow, MA, USA ~ <[email protected]>

Petrocosmea funingensis (Gesneriaceae): a new species from southeastern Yunnan, China. Qiang Zhang, Bo Pan, Tao Meng, Guo-Feng Li, Wei-Bin Xu & Zhi-Ming Li. Phytotaxa 77 (1): 5-8. 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.77.1.2

This paper describes a newly named species as Petrocosmea funingensis, related to P. huanjiangensis and P. iodioides, which i have also not seen. it is assigned to section anisochilus because of its slightly split corolla lobes, with the upper lip nearly half as long as the lower one.

The genus has at least 30 members, with at least 20 of them coming from southwestern China, so this species comes from a

little east of center. Almost all of them come from moist limestone rocks in montane forest at elevations over 1000 m; this species is from a limestone cave entrance at 1400 m. The climate is sub-tropical montane, with an average annual temperature of 15.6°C (61°F), average annual precipitation of over 1200 mm, and average humidity of 89%. This sounds like cool terrarium conditions, or maybe outdoors in Seattle.

This species has petioles that are often longer than the leaf blade, and it is illustrated as having an open structure, unlike the tight rosettes often seen on members of this genus in flower shows. The flower is blue to purple, but is only a little over 1 cm (about 1/2"). The flower stalks are red-purple. it flowers in May.

Columnea carinata, a new species of Gesneriaceae from northwestern Ecuador. John L. Clark and Laurence E. Skog. Novae Gesneriaceae Neotropicarum XVIII. Brittonia, 65 (2): 186-190. 2013.

This new species comes from the western Andean slopes of Ecuador, a region that is also home to Columnea lucifer, Kohleria hypertrichosa, Monopyle multiflora, and Monopyle uniflora. This species is found at 1900-2600 meters altitude, where conditions would be expected to be quite cool and humid. i would expect 8°C/48°F at night and 23°C/73°F as a daytime high most of the year, with 90% humidity by early morning, falling to a low of 50% by afternoon.

it is a scandent climbing epiphyte, which means that it drapes itself over the upper branches of trees, with the new shoots heading upwards hoping to find more vegetation to support them. if they find support the stems can eventually become quite long (2 m), but they are relatively thin and will eventually droop if unsupported.

The ovate leaves are almost equal in the pair, about 2-6 cm long (0.8-2.4 inches), and the space between leaves is of the same order or slightly less. The flower is 3-5.5 cm long (1.25 to over 2 inches) and a nice bright red in color with yellow inside around the opening. The shape is a slightly swollen tube with relatively small lobes, not the wide-open “dragon” style of many members of the genus. There is a raised keel along the upper surface, which gives the species its name. it seems to belong to section Pentadenia.

Drymonia crispa (Gesneriaceae), a new species from northwestern Colombia. Laura Clavijo and John L. Clark. Brittonia, DOI 10.1007/s12228-013-9310-4 (published online). 2013.

The genus Drymonia has about one quarter the number of species as the genus Columnea, but its space in the affections of gesneriad growers has been even smaller, perhaps because many of the available species are large and have white flowers. This new


http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.77.1.2


species will not change the majority opinion, but those of us who like the genus will eagerly await its availability in cultivation.

This species is a scandent shrub, attempting to grow upright but appreciating sturdy support to drape itself upon. it can become well over one meter (three feet) tall. The stems are slightly squared-off. The leaves are 8-15.5 cm (3-6 inches) long and about half as wide, in almost-equal pairs.

The flowers form in clusters in the leaf axils on short but visible maroon stalks. The calyx is whitish, with red and green markings away from the midvein. The edges of the calyx lobes are strongly curled or sinuate; the species name comes from this feature.

The flowers are of the bell-shaped pattern, in this case with a slightly narrowed throat. The flower is about 25 mm (one inch) long, and of about the same overall width including the spread lobes with long filaments. The color is basically with pink markings especially two stripes outside on the top, and yellow marks in the throat.

it has been found in rain forest and cloud forest at altitudes of 1780-2500 meters.

Rare and Endemic Plants; Jewel in the Crown of Gunugng Tahan. Lim, C.L., Chew, M.Y., & Yao, T.L. in Conservation Malaysia 15: 1-4. 2012.

gunung Tahan is the tallest peak in Peninsular Malaysia, at 2187 meters.Page 3 of this article contains pictures and brief comments on two gesneriad species.Codonoboea rubiginosa is said to be “locally abundant on mossy mounds along the

quartzite ridge of Tangga lima Belas” although local to this area. This area has (by Malaysian standards) harsh exposed conditions, so the leaves are thick and leathery with a thick layer of hairs. The flowers are white with some pink outside.

The species name of Codonoboea leucocodon refers to its white bell-shaped flowers. it is said to be locally common along the main trail on the “Padang,” with hundreds of flowers in May. it likes partial sun to shade.

Columnea caudata and Columnea megafolia, Two New Species of Gesneriaceae. Marisol Amaya Márquez, Laurence E. Skog, & Lars Peter Kvist. Caldasia 35 (2): 273-280. 2013.

Both of these species are from the Chocó region of Colombia, and both seem to be of the form once called “Dalbergaria,” with leaves very unequal in the pair, spread out flat on the stem to form a “fern-frond” arrangement.

Columnea caudata is somewhat like C. ericae, but has leaves with a caudate apex (i.e., tapering to a long thin tip) and has quite long narrow flowers. it has upright stems and the longer leaves are 8.5-23.5 cm (3-9 inches) long including the tip; the smaller leaves are extremely tiny. The leaves are red-purple below for the last 20% of length. The flowers are bright orange or yellow, tubular, about 5 cm (2 inches) long and only 0.7 cm (0.25 inches) in diameter. it is found from 400-1900 meters altitude, so it might be tolerant, though it does come from a wet high-humidity area. The leaf tips should make it quite distinctive.

Columnea megafolia is somewhat like C. purpurata but with larger leaves and flowers. it can grow to over 1 meter (3 feet) tall. The leaves are 31-51 cm (12-20 inches) long, so it will require a certain amount of space for cultivation if it becomes available. The derivation of the name should be clear. Unlike many species in this group the leaves do not have red markings below. The flowers are red, sometimes with yellow toward the tip, and are about 3.6 cm (1.5 inches) long. The calyx is also red and relatively large, and the flowers form in clusters, so the effect is showier than the flower size might suggest. it is found from 1240-1460 meters altitude in wet forest.


Primulina mabaensis (Gesneriaceae), a new species from a limestone cave of northern Guangdong, China. Kuo-Fang Chung, Han-Yau Huang, Ching-I Peng, & Wei-Bin Xu. Phytotaxa 92 (2): 40-48. 2013.

This new species was found growing on low-altitude limestone caves and rock surfaces of a karst tower in the Maba Man Archeology Site!

it is similar in appearance to Primulina repanda var. guilinensis (available in cultivation), but with much larger flowers (which could be considered by humans to be a considerable advantage). The flowers are over 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, which is about three times the size of the currently cultivated species.

DNA evidence suggests it is not closely related to that variety (much closer to Primula tabacum), and additionally that the “variety” is not particularly closely related to the plain P. repanda!

The paper has a botanical illustration and several well-done photographs.

A new species of Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) from the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. John L. Clark. Brittonia, 65 (2): 181-185. 2013.

Drymonia ignea is a promising species that i hope can be gotten into open cultivation. it should even attract people who do not normally pay attention to Drymonia species, because of the bright display.

it is usually an epiphytic climber though it is rarely found on the ground. The erect square stems can reach 2 meters (6 feet) tall. The thin leaves including the petiole are 10-25 cm (4-10 inches) long and are usually dark red below.

The flowers are clustered in the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx lobes are about 1.7 cm by 0.7 cm (0.75 by 0.3 inches) and are bright yellow, sometimes with red margins. The corolla is urn-shaped with a tightly constricted opening, and again is bright yellow, sometimes with red lobes. The clones with red margins such as 5713 are particularly striking.

The collections altitudes are from 1400-2800 meters, suggesting it will require cool humid conditions, which might not be easy to provide for a large plant in a home.

Two new Monophyllaea (Gesneriaceae) species from Sarawak, Borneo. Ruth Kiew & Julia Sang. Phytotaxa 129 (1): 59-64. 2013.

This is a very interesting and unusual genus, centered in Sarawak, of at least 24 species. Very few of them are in cultivation.

Monophyllaea grandifolia has, as the name suggests, only one large leaf. The succulent leaf is a broad oval with a heart-shaped base where it joins the stem. The dimensions are on the order of 50 cm (20 inches). The bottom surface of the leaf eventually becomes covered with crystalline calcium carbonate exuded by the plant. As with unifoliate Streptocarpus species, the end of the leaf tends to rot away. The leaf is held suspended above the ground more-or-less horizontally by a thick succulent dark green stem of length similar to the leaf dimension. So far it looks a bit like a one-leaf hosta. The flower stalks are on the order of 10 cm (4 inches) long and arise from the base of the leaf where it meets the stem. The flowers are on the order of 1 cm (0.4 inches) and are of light greenish to yellowish color. it is locally common in the Ulu Merirai limestone area at low elevation (i.e., very warm) where it grows in wet areas at the base of small limestone faces, well-shaded by the canopy.

Monophyllaea meriraiensis has stems about 11 cm (4 inches) long. The leaf is thin and is more of a narrow oval shape 34.5 cm by 16 cm (14 inches by 6 inches), again with a deeply heart-shaped base and with encrustations below. The flowers are somewhat smaller than the species above. it grows at low elevation directly on a vertical limestone face in deep shade. it may be a short-lived plant.


Primulina tsoongii sp. nov. (Gesneriaceae) from a limestone area in north Guangxi, China. Hui-Ling Liang, De-Xin Kong, Yan-Cai Shi, Bo Zhao and Fang Wen. Nordic Journal of Botany 000: 001-005. 2013. doi: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.2013.00306.x (published on-line)

This is another attractive new species in a genus that by now must exceed 150 species, with more being found regularly. The general form is the typical “rosette chirita,” now Primulina. The plant is about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter, sometimes purplish. The flowers are pale purple and of a reasonable size for the plant. Bloom period is July.

it grows in shaded moist rock crevices under subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest at low altitude. The average annual temperature is 19.7°C (67°F) and average annual precipitation is 1437.7 mm (57 inches).

The name commemorates the botanist Chi-hsin Tsoong, who discovered Cathaya argyrophylla, a “living fossil” pine that closely resembles fossils from coal beds in Europe from 10-30 million years ago.

New species of Microchirita (Gesneriaceae) from Thailand. David J. Middleton & Pramote Triboun. Thai For. Bull. (Bot.) 41: 13-22. 2013.

Microchirita is the genus containing the plants that used to be known as “annual chiritas.” This paper names five new species.

These plants generally look rather delicate, but in fact are usually quite sturdy, growing in exposed situations with bright light and warm temperatures, and they tolerate dry air. They normally self-pollinate and produce copious quantities of easily grown seed, so the plant species can be kept going even though the individual plants die after their year. i have kept one small-growing species growing for eight years, in soil in a plastic box on a light stand, with only occasional additions of water when i don’t forget. if i do forget, then some of the seed will sprout when i water the box and off they go again.

Microchirita purpurea is the only new purple-flowered species proposed here. The plant has tall (0.25-1 meter/1-3 feet) thin erect stems carrying leaves with rather long petioles. A point of interest is that the flowers arise from the base of the leaf above the petiole, not in the leaf axils along the stem. The attractive flower is dark purple and is very narrow at the base then widening abruptly into a broad bell shape. The flower color and size (but not shape or position on the plant) are similar to the better-known Microchirita involucrata.

There are two white-flowered species named here. The authors feel that the tendency to call any white-flowered species from Thailand “Microchirita hamosa” is unfortunate, and that species can readily be distinguished by markings within the tube, shape of the flower, hairs on the anthers, and so on. They also feel that “Microchirita hamosa” may in fact be mis-named, but they do not correct it in this paper.

Microchirita woodii has somewhat the appearance of M. elphinstonia, but the flowers are smaller and are very pale with a pair of dark spots inside, rather than a bright orange-yellow.

Microchirita karaketii is a small white-flowered species, distinguished from others by details of the flower. The most apparent detail is that the tube is curved to be slightly S-shaped rather than being a simple bell-shape. it grows in a mixed population with “Microchirita hamosa” without apparent hybridizing.

Microchirita suddeei is another small white or pale purple-flowered species, distinguished from others by details of the flower.

Microchirita albiflora is another small white or pale purple-flowered species, distinguished from others by details of the flower.

Anyone who wants to distinguish these species should really get a copy of the paper; it contains very detailed descriptions and helpful photographs.


A new species of Somrania (Gesneriaceae) from Thailand. David J. Middleton and Pramote Triboun. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 65 (2): 181-184. 2013.

Most readers are probably at least as unfamiliar with this genus as i am. it has only recently been described. To a botanist it is distinguished by branched hairs, tubular corolla, a stigma with only the lower lobe developed and bifid, and short straight fruit. it is closely related to Damrongia, which is, shall we say, also not widely grown.

The plants are rosettes. They are found on limestone cliffs in partial shade at low altitude (i.e., warm). They would certainly be worth a try if they become available.

with this new species, there are three in the genus, distinguished by slight differences in the corolla tube such as whether the tube is about 13.5 mm (0.5 inch) long plain white (Somrania albiflora), 16 mm (0.625 inch) white with sharp orange-brown lines inside and an absence of hairs in the inflorescence axes (S. lineata), or 16 mm (0.625 inch) white with diffuse yellowish lines inside and a presence of hairs in the inflorescence axes (S. flavida).

A new variety of Stauranthera umbrosa (Griffith) C.B. Clarke [Gesneriaceae] from North-East India. Sudeshna Datta, T. K. Paul, and A. P. Das. Pleione 6 (2): 384-386. 2012.

i seem to be on a mini-roll of obscure genera here. This is a genus of eight species from South-East Asia to New guinea.

The new variety described here is Stauranthera umbrosa (griffith) C.B. Clarke var. upendrae Su. Datta, T.K. Paul & A.P. Das, and it differs from the base species in having appressed (flattened against the surface) strigose (curved) hairs on the upper surface of the leaf rather than being hairless. it is found in dense wet forest at 700-900 meters altitude.

This plant is a terrestrial perennial up to 30 cm (one foot) high, of which the stem is less than half the height. The illustration shows one good-sized upward-pointing leaf making up the rest of the height. The text says that the lower leaves are alternate and the upper leaves are opposite, but the leaves are strongly unequal in the pair, with the smaller leaf reduced to almost nothing. it produces a flower stalk about half the length of the leaf, bearing tiny flowers whose color is not mentioned but is probably not beautiful to anyone but the pollinator.

Morphological variation, genetic diversity and genome size of critically endangered Haberlea (Gesneriaceae) populations in Bulgaria do not support the recognition of two different species. Galya Petrova, Teodora Dzhambazova, Daniela Moyankova, Desislava Georgieva, Antoaneta Michova, Dimitar Djilianov, Michael Möller. Plant Syst Evol. 2013. DOI 10.1007/s00606-013-0857-z (published online)

This genus has traditionally contained two species of reasonably distinct appearance (at least among cultivated examples), Haberlea rhodopensis and H. ferdinandi-coburgii. The authors used DNA analysis and morphological analysis on wild-collected plants and decided that the two species could not be distinguished! Haberlea rhodopensis is the earlier name and should be used if you subscribe to their view.

The older species was published in 1835. The new species was published in 1902, and as early as 1903 a botanist was commenting that it was difficult to distinguish since the publication contained neither a drawing nor an extensive diagnosis. As far as he could tell the new species was distinguished by being smaller, having leaves that are hairless below, having smaller flower with narrower and more pointed sepals, a dark-blue corolla, and an elongated seed capsule.


it was never collected after the original collection. Plants in cultivation are without collection data. The authors of this paper collected about 300 plants of Haberlea from a wide selection (12) of natural locations in Bulgaria covering the distribution range of the genus, and including the type locality for H. ferdinandi-coburgii.

in nature these plants grow in shady rock crevices at 100-1700 meters altitude. in cultivation they are completely hardy in USDA zone 5, and probably in zone 3. here in Massachusetts we grow them in sandy soil in places that have some shade from afternoon sun in summer. For us they die in full sun, but i have been told that they can be grown in sun if you have reliable watering and perhaps misting. i have been told that they do not do well in the southern USA (too hot?). For us they have not done well indoors; they may be fussy about requiring a cold winter.

The morphological analysis consisted of measuring several values for each plant (e.g., corolla length, sepal width) and feeding the values into a computer program that looked for clusters of separate values in the combinations of characteristics. There was one sample from the original location for Haberlea ferdinandi-coburgii that showed up as distinct from the other plants and matching the characteristics of the species as described. however, it was not from a distinct locale and showed much the same DNA as all the other plants. The other plants from the type locality were much like the typical Haberlea rhodopensis. The authors suspect that the species H. ferdinandi-coburgii was based on one atypical plant rather than on a population and therefore they reduce the name to synonymy.

Four New Species of Columnea (Gesneriaceae) with Primary Distributions in Colombia. James F. Smith, John L. Clark, Marisol Amaya-Márquez & Oscar H. Marín-Gómez. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 7 (2): 667-679. 2013.

Columnea ceticeps has pendant zig-zag stems with opposite unequal leaves, in general vegetative appearance something like C. minor. The flower is quite different. The calyx of this new species is relatively plain, but the flower is about 5 cm/2 inches long and is bright red. Four of the lobes are grouped closely at the top, and the “tongue” lobe is long and down-curving. it is found at altitudes of 1900-2900 m, suggesting a preference for cool humid conditions. it looks like it would make an attractive cultivated plant if you can provide suitable conditions.

Columnea ferruginea has long stems, reasonable internodes, and opposite unequal leaves with the larger leaf 6.2-10 cm/2-4 inches long. The undersides of the leaves have distinctive rust-colored hairs. The corolla is 4.7-6.3 cm (about 2 inches) long and is red. it seems to be a rare species at about 2100 meters elevation.

Columnea fractiflexa is described as pendant or festooning. it is similar to C. minor but the corolla is plain red rather than yellow-purple stripes, and it doesn’t have the small appendages between lobes. it is found in a limited region at 1600-2050 meters elevation. From the photograph it looks like an attractive plant, brighter but less outlandish than the better-known relative.

Columnea laciniata is another species with vegetation broadly similar to the others, but with the distinctive feature that the leaves are nearly hairless on the underside; this seems to be unique in the genus. The corolla is a yellow tube of modest size. The calyx is quite interesting and provides the species name. “laciniate” means that the edge is cut into narrow divisions; think of the edges of the flowers on Paradrymonia ciliosa for example. in the present case the sides of the calyx lobes carry filaments, and the whole thing is red-purple and hairy to add to the show. The species seems to be rare, but it is found over a broad altitude range from 800 to 2430 meters.


Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws of The Gesneriad Society, Inc.ThE FOllOwiNg AMENDMENT wAS DiSCUSSED AT ThE JUNE 30, 2015 meeting of the Board of Directors of The gesneriad Society and, upon adoption, will be substituted for the bylaw article indicated. The Board recommends the adoption of this revision to the bylaws, which will be voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting to be held in wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, July 7, 2016. The proposed amendment specifies the purpose of the Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund and includes specific procedures that the board must follow for withdrawing more than 5% of the assets of the fund. The amendment will be voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting.bylaw ameNdmeNt to reVise artiCle Viii seCtioN 3The current wording of this section is as follows (text in italics is being removed):

Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund – All monies received for life memberships shall be placed in the Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund. Chapters and individuals are encouraged to make direct contributions to this fund. This fund shall be treated as a permanent endowment fund. Only the interest from the fund is available for use by the Society, except that the Board of Directors may use part of the principal if the Board of Directors finds it necessary to meet extraordinary expenses. any interest not spent shall be added to the principal. The Chairman of the Fund Committee is responsible for additional fund raising to enhance the fund.Motion, to replace Article VIII, Section 3 with the following (text in italics is being added):

Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund – All monies received for life memberships shall be placed in the Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund. This fund shall be treated as a permanent endowment fund to ensure the financial stability of the Gesneriad Society. a majority of two-thirds of the Directors shall be required to use more than 5% (five percent) of the fund to meet extraordinary expenses. The Chairperson of the Fund Committee is responsible for additional fund raising to enhance the fund.

The Shopping Mall“OZARK” Sinningias, African Violets and other gesneriads. Dave’s Violets, 1372 S. Kentwood Avenue, Spring-field, MO 65804 (417) 887-8904 Email: <[email protected]> (no catalog). www.davesviolets.com.OuT OF AFRICA, Blooming Strep-to carpus. Send $1 for catalog. gary S. Mikita, 2842 Brown St., Portage, iN 46368. Phone (219) 763-4861. Email [email protected] www.garys-out-of-africa.com.

MRS STREP STREPS – Streptocarpus, Primulinas, and other gesneriads. Email for list of available plants. Kathy Spiss-man, 4086 Brownlee Dr., Tucker, gA 30084. Phone (770) 939-5289. Email: [email protected].


http://www.davesviolets.com


http://www.garys-out-of-africa.com



Species: Replicating Their Natural HabitatsDale Martens ~ Sherrard, IL, USA ~ <[email protected]> withKaryn Cichocki <[email protected]>

OVER ThE yEARS i’VE ACQUiRED SPECiES ThROUgh convention plant sales, the Society’s Seed Fund, Mauro Peixoto’s Seed Fund, and through vendors at various gesneriad and African violet shows. But getting the seeds is only the beginning. i research their natural habitats to see what i can do to help them grow well enough to bloom.

Recently i struggled to get seeds from Sinningia barbata ‘Coaraci Vinho’, a plant i had grown from Mauro’s seeds. Mauro told me i needed to increase the humidity because Atlantic Forest plants grow in high humidity and that the humidity is even higher during the time the plants bloom and set seeds. i put the plant in a tall glass container and covered it with plastic. Sure enough, i finally got seeds.

i contacted Karyn Cichocki because she is an amazing grower who tries to replicate the natural growing conditions of the species in her care. when she enters species in shows, the accompanying educational card gives details to help others grow the same

species. This column will focus on Karyn’s efforts with Columnea, Sinningia, Saintpaulia, and a very rare Epithema species.

Karyn: “Through trial and error i’ve discovered that the upright woody-stemmed species of Columnea grow better in my cool basement growing area than those that have thinner stems and a hanging growth habit. when i was in Ecuador i saw many of these up in trees where they were growing in either tree moss or leaf matter that had collected where a branch joined the tree trunk. This made me think that possibly these plants would grow better in some type of medium other than my regular soil mix so i started experi-menting with different media, namely rock wool cubes in Oyama pots and long-fiber sphagnum moss in a bird suet feeder. in both cases i left the existing soil that was already around the roots and planted in either

Back to Basics:

I would suggest finding out where the species grow and depending on that decide which method to experiment with.

Sinningia barbata ‘Coaraci Vinho’ flower. Photo: Dale Martens

Sinningia barbata ‘Coaraci Vinho’ seed pods. Photo: Dale Martens




the rock wool cubes or sphagnum moss. i cut a square section out of the front of the suet feeder, filled it with the moss, and then placed the plant through that hole and put more moss around it. The suet feeder works great but is a problem to keep watered as the moss dries out quickly. This would be great to use in a greenhouse setting where water on the floor isn’t a problem, but it doesn’t work well in my basement growing area. you could also try surrounding the root ball with sphagnum moss, then place it on a piece of cork or tree fern bark and secure it with fishing line filament.

“i’ve seen several pictures of different Sinningia species in their natural habitat, one being Sinningia pusilla growing on a mossy rock. i decided it would be fun to recreate those conditions. i took a piece of slate and placed some peat moss on it and then covered it with sphagnum moss. i took some tubers of Sinningia muscicola and planted them in the moss. The slate was then placed in a shallow plastic tray that i kept filled with water that the slate absorbed. i exhibited this at the Rochester Convention and top-dressed the sphagnum moss with moss from my yard. As you can see from the picture, the plants grew quite well, flowered, set seed, and even re-seeded themselves. look closely to see the small plants coming up.

“i have a tuber of Sinningia sp. “Pancas” growing on a piece of tufa rock that is sitting in perlite in an Oyama pot and i have two other tubers planted in hydroponic

rocks, also in Oyama pots. Mauro Peixoto has this species mounted on a piece of bark so it appears to not need any soil.

“After seeing a program on Saintpaulia species and pictures of several species growing on mossy rocks, i thought that it might be interesting to see how they would grow on rocks. My first experiment was taking a piece of tufa rock, putting a hole in it and then planting a small plant in the hole with a bit of my soil mix. i

Above & Below: Columnea sanguinea ‘Gigantea’ at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Photo: Dale Martens

Sinningia muscicola. Photo: Karyn Cichocki


used S. grotei ‘Silvert’ for this as it has a trailing habit and i thought that possibly this species might grow on rocks. i set the rock in a four-inch Oyama pot that i had partially filled with perlite, so that the rock could absorb water from the moist perlite. i was happy when the plant started to thrive and then bloomed. The rock was about eight inches tall, and i was quite amazed when i

lifted it out of the perlite only to discover that the roots had grown through the rock and were now growing into the perlite.

“i’m now experimenting with growing several species in hydroponic rock. i have one planted in the rock in an Oyama pot and two others that are in a normal pot with a wick wound throughout the rocks. They have been in there about six months and it appears that the plants in the regular pot with the wick are doing better than those in the Oyama pot. i would suggest finding out where the species grow and depending on that decide which method to experiment with.

“growing Epithema saxatile is the perfect example of why it is so important to learn where gesneriads grow. i had tried germinating seed of this species several times without success and finally asked leong Tuck lock for some suggestions. he said that the plants grow on mossy rocks and in rock ledges and crevices and that i might try sowing the seed on a rock. So i took a small rock, sprayed it with water, sprinkled

Sinningia sp. “Pancas”. Photo: Karyn Cichocki

Saintpaulia grotei ‘Silvert’. Photo: Karyn Cichocki

Epithema saxatile seed sowing. Photo: Karyn Cichocki

Epithema saxatile seedlings. Photo: Karyn Cichocki


some peat moss on it and then sprinkled the seed on the rock. The rock was then nestled in a layer of wet perlite that i placed in a clear plastic container with a lid. it took about two weeks for the seed to germinate. Once the plants got big enough to handle, i transplanted some into my regular soil mix in a pot that was wicked and was disappointed that these plants didn’t last very long. i decided to try growing them on a piece of tufa rock, which i had sitting in a layer of perlite in a large pan pot. This was then placed in a clear plastic pot with a dome top to keep the humidity high. The plants started to bloom after a year and a half. Although the leaves of this species can get quite large, the largest of mine is only two inches in length. i have the container growing alongside a plant stand that has 2-tube, T-8 fixtures so i don’t know if more light would make the plants grow larger or if it is my cooler growing conditions that are keeping them smaller.”

Epithema saxatile – mature plants. Photo: Karyn Cichocki

This past year has been one of losses for Northern California chapters.

Leona Mae and Nesi Mendes, both in their nineties, passed away within months of one another in the fall of 2015 in Cameron Park, CA. Both had been among the charter members of Delta Gesneriad & African Violet Society and contributed significantly to the success of the chapter and the Gesneriad Society conventions held in Northern California.

Thad Holcomb, Streptocarpus hybridizer, passed away at the age of 88 on December 28, 2015 in Reno, NV. His enthusiasm for the Gesneriad family was the highlight of the Delta Gesneriad & AVS chapter meetings and shows each year. His generosity and knowledge of gesneriads were legendary and resulted in many new members joining the chapter. Photo of Thad by Betty Holcomb, taken in March 2015 at the Orchid Show in Miami.

—Lynn Lombard

In Memoriam

https://gesneriaceaeofsouthchina.wordpress.com/


Send orders for hybrid seed to:Gussie Farrice, 121 Nelson Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10308

Seed Fund – HybridsAS i wRiTE ThiS MESSAgE ThE ChRiSTMAS hOliDAy has passed and New years Eve is just around the corner. it will be time to make all our New years resolutions. By the time you are reading this, you will have already received the first quarter issue of Gesneriads and have read the information about this year’s convention. i hope that many of you will attend. There is nothing quite as thrilling as seeing all the friends that you have not seen since the last convention. Needless to say, that is not the only perk of coming to convention. let us not forget the extraordinary plant sales tables. you will also be able to purchase seed, as both Carolyn Ripps and i plan to attend. So bring your list of wishes and i am sure you will be able to fill it. i hope to see many old friends this year and maybe some new ones.

Recent donations from the following are gratefully acknowledged: Kelly Ates, Paulo Castello da Costa, Tsuh yang Chen, Karyn Cichocki, Keith Dabney, Jill Fischer, Robert hall, Dennis Kramb, leong Tuck lock, Dale Martens, hung Nguyen, Mauro Peixoto, Michael Riley, Carolyn Ripps, Mary Schaeffer, Jay Sespico, Betsy Sherwin, and Bob and Dee Stewart.

So bring your list of wishes and I am sure you will be able to fill it.

Seed Fund – HybridsAchimenes (D)

‘Carmencita’ x selflongiflora x ‘Klaus Neubner’hybrid mix (B,l)

Aeschynanthus (B)‘Thai Pink’ x selfhybrid, large orange/red

Chrysothemis (F,lM)• pulchella hybrid mix

hybrid mixColumnea (B)

‘Aladdin’s lamp’ x self• ‘BoldVenture’x self• ‘Fujiyama’x self• ‘Malissa’ x self

hybrids (orange)Episcia (h,l,B,F)

• cupreata hybrids x ‘Suomi’cupreata hybrids mixhybrid mixmixed hybrids (5 crosses)yellow hybrids

Eucodonia (D,F,P)verticillata ‘Cecilia’ x Eucodonia hybrids

reverse crosses• hybrid1• hybrid2

• hybrid3hybrid mix

Gesneria (h,F,l)citrina hybrid x self‘Flashdance’ x self‘Sundrop’ seedling x self

Kohleria (D)(‘Brazil gem’ x bogotensis)hondensis hybrid x ‘Bermuda Red’hybrid mix

Microchiritacaliginosa x sericea (lM)viola x caliginosa

Nematanthus • ‘Cheerio’ x self

Primulina‘Dreamtime’ x self (sp. “New york”

x flavimaculata)dryas ‘hisako’ x self

Seemannia‘Medusa’ x selfsylvatica hybrid x self

Sinningia (D)(aggregata [yellow] x sellovii) x self canescens x leucotricha ‘Max Dekking’carangolensis x warmingii ‘Esmeril’cardinalis x glazioviana


cardinalis hybridscardinalis ‘innocent’ x iarae (lM)(cardinalis ‘innocent’ x iarae) x self(cardinalis x iarae) x selfcardinalis x double orange hybrid(cardinalis ‘Skydiver’ x iarae) x selfconspicua x cardinaliseumorpha hybrids mix (F,R)(eumorpha ‘Saltao’ x piresiana) x conspicuaglazioviana x leopoldii F2 (lM)guttata x aggregata (yellow)guttata x speciosa ‘Cabo Frio’(iarae x cardinalis compact) x selfleopoldii x iarae(leucotricha x bulbosa) x self(leucotricha x cardinalis) x leopoldii x self(leucotricha x cardinalis) x selfleucotricha x piresianasellovii small pink hybrid x self(sellovii x ‘Apricot Bouquet’) x selfsellovii x ‘Peridots Sand Pebbles’(sellovii x tubiflora) x self(tubiflora x ‘Apricot Bouquet’) x (sellovii

x tubiflora)(tubiflora x incarnata) x self‘Anne Crowley’ x self (F,l)‘Apricot Bouquet’ seedling x ‘Apricot

Bouquet’ (lM)‘Apricot Bouquet’ x self (lM)(‘Apricot Bouquet’ x self) x self (lM)(‘Apricot Bouquet’ seedling) x conspicua

(F,l)• (‘ApricotBouquet’x self) x (conspicua x

eumorpha) (F,l)‘Apricot Bouquet’ hybrids‘Arkansas Bells’ x self‘Beata’ x self (leucotricha x leopoldii)‘Bewitched’ x self (F,l)

• ‘ButterflyKiss’x self ‘Cindy-Ella’ x self‘Claire’s Choice’ x self‘Delta Fox’ x self (F,P)‘Diego’ (red) (F,l)‘Diego’ (pink)‘Dollbaby’ x self‘Doris’ F3 x self

• ‘Elin’x leucotricha ‘Flamenco Apricot Bouquet’ x self‘Fuzzy Bear’ x self‘good Pink’ x self (F,l)‘gyllenblom’ x ‘Raketbain’

• ‘Jubilee’x self (F,l)• ‘KrezdornYellow’x self (l)• ‘Krishna’x self

‘lavender Crest’ x self‘little imp’ x self (F,P)‘little Redhead’ x self‘Maiden’s Blush’ x self (F,P)‘Mother of Pearl’ x self (F,P)‘Mothers Day’ x self (F,l)‘Ozark Pink Petunia’ x self‘Pale Beauty’ x self (l)‘Peridots Blazer’ x self

• ‘Piglet’x self

‘Pink Pearl’ x self‘Premier Pink’ x self (F,P)‘Pure Pink’ x self (F,P)

• ‘PurpleCrest’x self‘Raketbain’ x self‘Romanza’ x self‘Ruby Red’ x self (F,P)‘Scarlet O’hara’ x self‘Scarlet Sunset’ x self (F,P)

• ‘SuperOrange’x self‘Tampa Bay Beauty’ x self (l)

• ‘TedBona’x self (F,P)‘Treva McDaniel’ x self‘Vevette’ x self

•‘Winkie’x self• ‘Xanadu’x self F2

hybrid (peach) x selfSuper Mini F5

• ‘GeorgiaSunset’hybridmix“hummingbird Mix”miniature hybrid mix (F,P)

• miniaturehybridmix(lav/purple)(F,P)pink hybrid mixpeloric hybrid mixpeloric hybrid mix, red

Sinningia speciosa hybrids (F,R)blue x selfmini lavender

pink• purple

red rose white white x red

pink & rose pinkpink dwarf

• purplepeloricpurple w/spotspurple x pinkred w/spotsred w/white edgewhitewhite w/red spotswhite/lavender“California Minis”Chiltern hybridblue slipperblue slipper x self‘Empress’ purple x selflavender & pink slipper x selflavender slipperpink slipperred slipperAC1503 x speciosa ‘Regina’blue mixorchid/purple mixpink mixpink/white mixpink & white slipper pink and white x purple

• purplepurple x red red mix


• slippermixCharles lawn hybrid mixEmpress MixedJack Evans purple mix‘Regina’ hybridSmall’s dwarf mixmixed hybrids

Smithiantha (D)‘An’s Sognare Firenze’ x self‘An’s Sognare Firenze’ x zebrina‘Big Dots Rule’ x ‘Vivian’s gift’‘Jan’s Surprise’ x ‘Tropical Sunset’light orange hybrid x ‘An’s Antique

Print’• ‘LittleOne’(F,L)

‘Sassy Redhead’ x ‘An’s Sognare Firenze’‘Vivian’s gift’ x self

Streptocarpus‘Amy’ x self

• ‘Bethan’x self‘Black Panther’ x self‘Bristol’s Charm’ x self‘Bristol’s Daisy Jane’ x self‘Bristol’s gum Drop’ x self‘Bristol’s hey Mei’ x self‘Bristol’s hot Rod’ x self‘Bristol’s ice Castle’ x self‘Bristol’s luv it’ x self‘Bristol’s Popsicle’ x self‘Bristol’s Ripe Melon’ x self‘Canterbury Surprise’ x self (V)(‘Canterbury Surprise’ x ‘Bristol’s

leopard Skin’) x self‘Canterbury Surprise’ x ‘Charlotte’‘Canterbury Surprise’ x ‘Coral Flair’ (V)‘Canterbury Surprise’ x ‘Emily’s Song’‘Cape Beauties’ x self (F,P)(‘Cape Essence’ x ‘iced Pink Flamingo’)

x unnamed hybrid ‘Charlotte’ x self‘Charlotte’ x ‘Northwoods Bear-ly

Salmon’‘Crystal wonder’ x self‘Demeter’ x self‘Electric Blue’ x self‘Elegance’ x self‘Ella Mae’ x self‘Ella Mae’ x “Blue Variety”

‘Falling Stars’ x self‘Fancy Pants’ x self‘Fernwood’s Cherries Jubilee’ x self‘Fernwood’s Fairy Princess’ x self‘Festival wales’ x self‘Fleischle’s Princesse’ x self‘Fleischle’s Roulette Cherry’ x self‘Franken Dainty lady’ x self‘Franken Jane Elizabeth’ x self‘Franken Stacey’ x self‘good Vibrations’ x (primulifolius x rexii

selfed)‘hera’ x self‘ice Berg Blues’ x ‘guidelines’‘ice Berg Blues’ x (‘Canterbury Surprise’

x ‘Bristol’s leopard Skin’)• ‘IceBergBlues’x ‘Paper Moon’

‘Jane Elizabeth’ x “Blue Variety”‘Jenny’ x self‘Ken’s Purple’ x self‘Keri’s Purple’ x self‘Kim’ x self‘Kitten Face’ x self‘Midnight Flame’ x self‘Mini Pink Fu’ x self ‘Northwoods Bear-ly Salmon’ x self‘Northwoods Bear-ly Salmon’ x ‘iced

Amethyst Showoff’‘Northwoods Bear-ly Salmon’ x ‘Velma’Pale lilac netted x self‘Park’s holiday hybrid’ x self‘Party Doll’ x self ‘Passion Pink’ x self‘Pegasus’ x self‘Persephone’ x self‘Piment Ornamental’‘Pink ice’ x selfPolish Mini #2 x self‘Royal’ (red) ‘Royal’ (white/pink stripes) ‘Sandra’ x self ‘Scarlet glitter’ x unknown‘Somerset Purple ice’ x self‘Spooky’ x self‘Stacey’ x “Blue Variety”‘Stonewashed’ x self‘Sue mini’ x self

• ‘Suzie’x self

Seed Packets — $2 each Please •Topaybycreditcard,sendyourcreditcardnumber,expirationdate,and

signature, and indicate if the card is MasterCard or Visa ($6 minimum) •MakecheckspayabletoTheGesneriadSocietyinU.S.funds • Provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope (non-U.S. orders will have the

postage added to their credit card bill) •Listalternatechoices •Includeyourmembershipnumber(firstnumberonyourmailinglabel) Note •Thereisalimitofoneseedpacketofasinglevarietyperorder •Thereisalimitof25seedpacketsperorder •Thereisahouseholdlimitof50seedpacketspercalendaryear •Pricewillincreaseto$3perpacketasofJuly1,2016


‘Texas hot Chili’ x ‘Burgundy Ruffles’‘Thalia’ x self

• ‘TheKing’x self‘Velma’ x self‘wow’ x self(confusus ssp. confusus x polyanthus ssp.

verecundus) x self• johannis x unknown • (montigena x rexii) x self

(polyanthus ssp. polyanthus x prolixus JT04-11) x self

(primulifolius x rexii) x self• rexii x gardenii

rexii hybrids• Wiesmoorhybrids

hybrid, lt blue/dk blue lines • hybrid,lgpurple

hybrid, lg white hybrid, lg mixed colorshybrid, pink/pinkhybrid, red

hybrid, red x selfhybrid, white/pink x selfhybrid mixDibley’s Dragon MixDibley’s Pink Bouquet MixNew Zealand hybrid mix

Streptocarpella Subgenus ‘Concord Blue’ x self

• hybrids‘white Butterfly’ x self

IntergenericsPaliavana prasinata x Sinningia

macropoda MP 944Paliavana prasinata x Sinningia

reitzii MP 949• xGloximannia ‘Circe’ x self

Mixed gesneriad hybrids

• denotesLIMITEDquantities

(A) Alpine or cool greenhouse (AN) Annual, dies after flowering (B) Suitable for hanging basket (D) has dormant period, forming tubers or rhizomes (F) Blooms readily in fluorescent light (g) Recommended for greenhouses; requires space (h) Requires humidity and warmth (l) low growing; not more than 12"

(lM) low to medium height (M) Medium height; 1 to 2 feet (MT) Medium to tall (P) Petite or miniature; under 6" (R) Rosette in form (S) Requires sun to bloom (T) Tall plants; generally over 3 feet (U) Unifoliate or single leaf (V) leaves may be variegated

Seed Fund Key

2375 North Beaumont, Texas 77702

409-839-4725http://avsa.org/

Write or call today for information.

888-437-0022 • www.violetSupply.com

http://avsa.org/

http://www.violetsupply.com/


Visit <http://gesneriadsociety.org/resources/> for more information about websites, organizations, and Facebook pages devoted to gesneriads.Gesneriads is published quarterly by The gesneriad Society, inc., lawrence, KS 66044-9998. Copyright © 2016 The gesneriad Society, inc. Postage paid at lawrence, KS 66044. Postmaster: Address of Record: The gesneriad Society, inc., 1122 East Pike Street, PMB 637, Seattle, wA 98122-3916 USA.

The Gesneriad Society, Inc.A non-profit membership corporation chartered by the State of Missouri

HONORARY OFFICERSFounder — Elvin McDonald Co-Editor of the GloxiNiaN — Peggie Schulz* (1951–1961)Past Presidents — Mrs. h. E. Dillard* (1954–56); Mr. F. w. Mitchell* (1956–58); Bruce A. Thompson* (1958–62); william

h. hull* (1962–65); Charles Marvinny (1965–68); Dr. Thomas E. Talpey (1968–69); Alice Courage* (1969–72); Ann Spencer* (1972–75); Martin Tanner (1975–77); Emma lahr* (1977–79); laura Progebin* (1979–81); David Masterson (1981–83); Patricia Van Deventer (1983–85); Michael A. Riley (1985–89); Jessie Crisafulli* (1989–93); lee linett (1993–97); Jon Dixon (1997–2001); Susan grose (2001–2005); Carol Ann Bonner (2005–2007); Peter Shalit (2007-2011); Paul Susi (2011-2015) *deceased

OFFICERSPresident (Term 2015-17) — Julie Mavity-hudson, 1015 Park lane, Joelton, TN 37080 <[email protected]>First V-P (Term 2014-16) — Jo Anne Martinez, 809 Taray de Avila, Tampa, Fl 33613 <[email protected]>Second V-P (Term 2015-17) — Mel grice, 2019 Crosswind Court, Englewood, Oh 45322 <[email protected]>Corresponding Secretary (Term 2014-16) — Kathy Spissman, 4086 Brownlee Dr., Tucker, gA 30084 <[email protected]>Recording Secretary (Term 2015-17) — leonard Re, 9144 helm Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 <[email protected]>Treasurer (Term 2014-16) —Becky Fontes, PO Box 412, Maysville, Ky 41056 <[email protected]>

DIRECTORSTerm 2013-2016 — Karyn Cichocki, Nancy Kast, lena Klintberg, Norah Otto, Mary Schaeffer, Kathy Spissman, Paul SusiTerm 2014-2017 — Paulo Castello da Costa, Jeremy Keene, Jo Anne Martinez, Julie Mavity-hudson, leonard Re,

Sally Robinson, Dave ZaitlinTerm 2015-2018 — Barbara Festenstein, Becky Fontes, winston goretsky, Mel grice, Stuart hammer, irina Nicholson,

Anne VidaverCOMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS AND STAFF

Awards of Appreciation — Molly Schneider <[email protected]>Bylaws and Parliamentarian — vacantChapters and Affiliates — Norah Otto <[email protected]>Conservation Fund — Stephen Maciejewski <[email protected]>

Jeremy Keene <[email protected]>Conventions — Jo Anne Martinez <[email protected]>Development — Paul Susi <[email protected]>Elvin McDonald Research Endowment Fund — Alain Chautems <[email protected]>Finance — Michael Riley <[email protected]>Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund — Tom Bruning <[email protected]>Gesneriad Hybridizers Association — Dale Martens <[email protected]>Gesneriad Register — irina Nicholson <[email protected]>Historian — Suzie larouche <[email protected]>Insurance — Dariane Joshlin <[email protected]>Internet Communications — Julie Mavity-hudson <[email protected]> Membership — Bob Clark <[email protected]>Membership Promotion — Paul Susi <[email protected]>Merchandise — Carol Ann Bonner <[email protected]>Nellie D. Sleeth Scholarship Endowment Fund — Eric Roalson <[email protected]>Nominating — Doris Brownlie <[email protected]>Photography — Julie Mavity-hudson <[email protected]>Properties — Doris Brownlie <[email protected]>Publications — Jeanne Katzenstein <[email protected]>Review — Mel grice <[email protected]>Seed Fund — Species: Carolyn Ripps <[email protected]>

— hybrids: gussie Farrice <[email protected]>Shows and Judging — Arleen Dewell <[email protected]>

Awards — Paul Susi <[email protected]>Speakers Bureau — Dale Martens <[email protected]>Standing Rules — Susan grose <[email protected]>Student and Speakers Convention Fund — Jo Anne Martinez <[email protected]>Student Convention Grant — Jeanne Katzenstein <[email protected]>

— Stephen Maciejewski <[email protected]>

RESOuRCES AND FRIENDSJudges Interest Group — Calendar year subscription to appraisal newsletter, 3 issues, $6 (postal mail) or $3 (email/full color).

Send to Mary lou Robbins, 403 Mizdail Road, hunlock Creek, PA 18621 <[email protected]> Gesneriad Hybridizers Association — CrossWords, 3 issues, $8 ($9 outside USA). Send to Martha lacy, 260 Stoddards wharf Rd.,

gales Ferry, CT 06335 <[email protected]>“Gleanings” — a free monthly newsletter from The gesneriad Society (Mel grice, editor). To subscribe, go to

http://www.gesneriadsociety.org/gleanings/index.htm and click on “Subscribe to Notification email.”Gesneriphiles Internet Discussion Group — Visit the website for instructions about joining the list:

<http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gesneriphiles>









































http://www.gesneriadsociety.org/gleanings/index.htm

http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gesneriphiles

http://gesneriadsociety.org/resources/


FOR YOuR INFORMATIONBylaws: The gesneriad Society Bylaws are available online to all members or by writing to leonard Re,

9144 helm Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 USA.Chapter s: Report changes of chapter presidents to the Chapter and Affiliates Chairperson at

<[email protected]>

CHAPTERS AND AFFILIATES — Presidents or ContactsArizona Desert Sun African Violet and Gesneriad Society — Ann Stoetzer <[email protected]>California Culver City — Pat lesnansky <[email protected]> Delta Gesneriad & African Violet Society — lynn lombard <[email protected]> Grow and Study — Jacquie Eisenhut <[email protected]> Peninsula — Alan laVergne <[email protected]> San Francisco — Alan laVergne <[email protected]>Colorado Gloxinia Gesneriad Growers — larry Boyer <www.gloxiniagesneriadgrowers.org>Delaware Delaware African Violet & Gesneriad Society — Mary Schaeffer

<[email protected]>Florida Bloomin’ Violets & Gesneriads of Palm Beach (Affiliate) — Martha Spyridon

<[email protected]> Caribbean Basin African Violet & Gesneriad Society — Karen lieux

<[email protected]> Suncoast (Affiliate) — Jeanne Katzenstein <[email protected]> Tampa Bay — Jeanne Katzenstein <[email protected]>georgia Atlanta Gesneriad Interest Group (Affiliate) — Kathy Spissman

<[email protected]>illinois Northern Illinois — Bob Nicholson <[email protected]>Kansas/Missouri Heart of America — Susan grose <[email protected]>Massachusetts New England — Sharon Rosenzweig <[email protected]>Michigan Southeastern Michigan — Richard holzman <[email protected]>Minnesota Twin Cities Area — Charles huston <[email protected]>Missouri Gateway West — gary Dunlap <[email protected]>Nebraska/iowa Omaha — Tom Bruning <[email protected]>New hampshire Granite State African Violet & Gesneriad Society — holly walker <[email protected]>New Jersey Frelinghuysen Arboretum — Karyn Cichocki <[email protected]>New york African Violet and Gesneriad Society of Rochester — Stacey Davis

<[email protected]> African Violet and Gesneriad Society of Syracuse — Mary Ryan

<[email protected]> African Violet and Gesneriad Society of Western New York — Judy Niemira

<[email protected]> Greater New York — gussie Farrice <[email protected]> Long Island — Ben Paternoster <[email protected]> Vestal African Violet & Gesneriad Society — wendy harrington

<[email protected]>Ohio North Coast Gesneriad & African Violet Club — Rick Pogozelski

<[email protected]>Oregon Mt. Hood — Vivian Scheans <[email protected]>Pennsylvania Liberty Bell — Stephen Maciejewski <[email protected]>Tennessee Tennessee — Julie Mavity-hudson <[email protected]>washington Puget Sound — MJ Tyler <[email protected]>washington, DC National Capital Area — Corey wickliffe <[email protected]>Canada Carefree — Elaine Stutt <[email protected]> Edmonton — Doreen Dragon <[email protected]> Stampede City African Violet Society (Affiliate) — winston J. goretsky

<[email protected]> Toronto — gillian Smith <[email protected]> Vancouver African Violet & Gesneriad Society — Marianne Moore

<[email protected]>Sweden Gesneriasts of Sweden — Anton ledin <[email protected]>

go to www.gesneriadsociety.org for complete chapter meeting information.







http://www.gloxiniagesneriadgrowers.org





































Application for Membership — The Gesneriad Society, Inc.welcome – membership in our international society includes quarterly issues of Gesneriads – The Journal for Gesneriad Growers, a copy of How to Know and Grow Gesneriads, a packet of gesneriad seeds and a wealth of information about our chapters, flower shows, publications, research, programs and seed fund. Membership begins upon receipt of dues.

New Member Date __________________________________________________________

Renewal Membership # __________________________________________________

Name _______________________________________________________________________________________ FAMily NAME giVEN NAME MiDDlE iNiTiAl

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________ STREET

____________________________________________________________________________________________ CiTy STATE ZiP CODE COUNTRy

Email _________________________________________________ Telephone ____________________________Chapter Affiliation (list only one) _____________________________________________________________________ Mailing in US Mailing in US Mailing outside US Mailing outside US (Rates in US$) 1 year 3 years 1 year 3 years

Individual $25 $70 $30 $85

Household $26 $73 $31 $88

Journal Subscription $25 $70 $30 $85(organizations, chapters, affiliates)

Individual Life Mailing in USA $375 Mailing outside USA $450

Green Option Electronic journal copy (no print copy) for individual or household Members$20 (one year), $55 (three years) anywhere in the world

I wish to make a tax-deductible contribution of $ ____________________ Elvin McDonald Research Endowment Fund Nellie D. Sleeth Scholarship Endowment Fund Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund Students and Speakers Convention Fund Conservation Fund in honor Memory of ____________________________________________________________________

Please make checks or money orders payable in US$ on a USa bank to: The Gesneriad SocietyOr, charge my ViSA, or MasterCard Card # __________________________________________________________Exp. Date ____________________Signature ___________________________________________________________ Amount __________________

Mail to: The Gesneriad Society Membership Secretary, Bob Clark, 1122 East Pike St., PMB 637, Seattle, WA 98122-3916 uSA

For application online: www.gesneriadsociety.org

DonationsThe gesneriad Society, inc. is a tax-exempt organization with an iRS section 501 (c)(3) status for donations. you can make your donations online at www.gesneriadsociety.org. you may also send your donation (check payable to The gesneriad Society) to:

Paul Susi, Development Chairperson 2 Rushmore Street, South huntington, Ny 11746

For additional information, contact: <[email protected]>.

Membership and Changes of AddressThe gesneriad Society Membership Secretary, Bob Clark,

1122 East Pike Street, PMB 637, Seattle, wA 98122-3916 USAChanges of Address — Send changes of address to the Membership Secretary <[email protected]> 90 days prior to moving to avoid missing an issue. The Society is not responsible for replacing issues missed because of late notification of address changes. Back issues may be ordered from The gesneriad Society Publications.Renewals — Send dues to the Membership Secretary. A Renewal Notice is sent two months prior to the expiration date of your membership. (The expiration date is printed on your mailing label/ membership card received with each copy of Gesneriads.) Please remit your dues prior to the expiration date to avoid missing an issue as we are not responsible for replacing issues missed because of late payment of dues. Back issues may be ordered from Publications.





volume 66 ~ number 2 second quarter 2016€¦ · the next day, may 19, 2015, my helper sergio and i...

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