Gesneriad Websites and Organizations

Note: These links take you outside the The Gesneriad Society’s website and are provided as a service to our visitors. A listing here does not constitute an endorsement by The Gesneriad Society.

Specifically about Gesneriads…

Our Tumblr blog is a great way to see well-grown gesneriads – and even submit a photo of one or more of yours!

The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History website contains extensive resources.

Sinningia and Friends is the website of Alan LaVergne, “intended to provide the sinningia grower with a bit of botanical and horticultural information.”

Dr. Alain Chautems has a website (in French) devoted to the taxonomy of Brazilian gesneriaceae.

Mauro Peixoto’s website has lots of pictures of gesneriads and other Brazilian plants. Mauro is a frequent contributor of plants, seeds and knowledge to The Gesneriad Society.

Brazilian Plants Group is dedicated to the study and preservation of Brazilian plants. Dues for an individual are $60 a year, which goes to support Mauro Peixoto’s research and greenhouses in Brazil. Club memberships are also available. All communication is done via a Yahoo group, BrazilPlants. Each individual member gets 6 packets of seed 3 times a year for free (with clubs getting a larger # of packets), which they can select from Mauro’s extensive seed list that contains not only gesneriads, but other plant families as well. For more information, contact Mauro Peixoto.

The Genera of Gesneriaceae – Weber, A. & L.E. Skog (2007 onw.): The genera of Gesneriaceae. Basic information with illustration of selected species. Ed. 2.

The Gesneriad Conservation Center of China is part of the Guangxi Institute of Botany in Guilin, China. The goal of the Center is to foster research in Chinese gesneriads and to attempt to preserve and protect as many species as possible.

British Streptocarpus Society A UK-based Streptocarpus Society, but with members worldwide; three newsletters a year; shows; informative website; leaf swaps; seed bank free to members. To join from 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.  If PAYPal isn’t used, a check in US funds for either type of membership can made out to Dale Martens and sent to 1247 Island View Drive, Sherrard, IL 61281, USA.

The Montreal Botanical Garden has an extensive site including a section devoted to gesneriads (in French).

The website of the African Violet Society of America is a good starting place for information about African violets (Saintpaulia).

The Texas Aggie Horticulture page has lots of information of interest to indoor gardeners.

Wikipedia has a number of gesneriad articles, which vary from brief and superficial, to excellent and in-depth.

The Pacific Bulb Society runs a seed and bulb exchange that often receives and distributes donations of tuberous and rhizomatous gesneriads, since they qualify as “geophytes” just like bulbs and corms. The online discussion group sometimes discusses gesneriad culture.

Other sites of interest to indoor gardeners and plant lovers…

The Horticulture Magazine has a website of interest to all gardeners.

University of Connecticut’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology web page offers a searchable inventory of the plant collections, including gesneriads.

Alpines is a site about . . . alpine plants, including gesneriads, with beautiful images by Jozef Lemmens.

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Groups, Blogs and Email Lists

There are many Facebook pages devoted to gesneriads. You will find a listing here.

The Gesneriphiles mailing list is an international group of individuals who share a common enthusiasm for gesneriads. Participants on the mailing list range from beginners to experienced academic botanists and hybridizers.

Other mailing lists