Pink Gerbera Flood 6
by Steve Purnell
Title
Pink Gerbera Flood 6
Artist
Steve Purnell
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Gerbera is a genus of ornamental plants from the sunflower family (Asteraceae). It was named in honour of the German botanist and naturalist Traugott Gerber ( 1743) who travelled extensively in Russia and was a friend of Carolus Linnaeus.[1]
It has approximately 30 species in the wild, extending to South America, Africa and tropical Asia. The first scientific description of a Gerbera was made by J.D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1889 when he described Gerbera jamesonii, a South African species also known as Transvaal daisy or Barberton Daisy. Gerbera is also commonly known as the African Daisy.
Gerbera species bear a large capitulum with striking, two-lipped ray florets in yellow, orange, white, pink or red colours. The capitulum, which has the appearance of a single flower, is actually composed of hundreds of individual flowers. The morphology of the flowers varies depending on their position in the capitulum. The flower heads can be as small as 7 cm (Gerbera mini 'Harley') in diameter or up to 12 cm (Gerbera Golden Serena).
Gerbera is very popular and widely used as a decorative garden plant or as cut flowers. The domesticated cultivars are mostly a result of a cross between Gerbera jamesonii and another South African species Gerbera viridifolia. The cross is known as Gerbera hybrida. Thousands of cultivars exist. They vary greatly in shape and size. Colours include white, yellow, orange, red, and pink. The centre of the flower is sometimes black. Often the same flower can have petals of several different colours.
Gerbera is also important commercially. It is the fifth most used cut flower in the world (after rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, and tulip). It is also used as a model organism in studying flower formation. Gerbera contains naturally occurring coumarin derivatives. Gerbera is a tender perennial plant. It is attractive to bees, butterflies and/or birds, but resistant to deer.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Uploaded
June 17th, 2013
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Comments (24)
Wendy Wilton
Very well composed Steve. The colours and reflections on the black background make for a really bold image. Wendy
Honey Behrens
how unique! I love this image not only because of the composition, but because it is from an original perspective. Beautiful. simple. i love it. l/f
CJ Anderson
Congratulations, Steve! Your wonderful photograph of a stellar gerbera daisy was selected to grace the homepage of the BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS GROUP.
Joan Kaplan
Awesome photo, Steve. Love your perspective, the way you framed the subject, the color contrast, etc., etc. Perfect!
Jim Carrell
Steve - This is an amazing image; great imagination and follow through with the spectacular reflection! Jim