Geophytic gesneriads

A beautiful scaly rhizomes of Kohleria spicata.

What's a geophyte anyway? Well, generally defined, they are plants that produce resting structures that allow the plant to go dormant during harsh conditions such as summer drought or winter cold. There are actually quite a number of geophytic gesneriads. We know them as genera that produce tubers and scaly rhizomes.



The Pacific Bulb Society wiki is a place where you can find information and photos on pretty much any genus of geophytic plants. However, the coverage for geophytic gesneriads was pretty sparse. I find this pretty shocking, given that I have been contributing to the wiki for many years. And so, a cross-over of societies took place. I teamed up with Jinean S. from the Twin Cities Chapter of the Gesneriad Society and we put together a list of geophytic gesneriads. Some of these may be on the borderline but we included them anyway. The PBS wiki is still pretty depauperate with these genera but eventually it will be filled in. Here's the list for your enjoyment!

A tuber of Sinningia macrostachya.

Achimenes, Amallophyllon, Chautemsia, Chrysothemis, Diastema, Eucodonia, Gloxinia, Gloxinella, Kohleria, Mandirola, Niphaea, Phinaea, Sinningia, Smithiantha, Sphaerorrhiza.

As you may already be able to pick out, these are all New Word gesneriads! It appears that the Old World gesneriads never evolved a way to cope with drying conditions as these New World ones did.