The Gesneriad Society is a nonprofit corporation chartered by the State of Missouri and functioning internationally. We are a group of over 1,000 people from all over the world, sharing an interest in the culture and botany of gesneriads. The Society has chapters in the USA, Canada, and Sweden. 

Originally founded in 1951 as The American Gloxinia Society, an association devoted to the growing and propagation of Florist Gloxinias (Sinningia speciosa) and other gesneriads, our name was changed in 1966 to The American Gloxinia and Gesneriad Society, then simplified in 2005 to The Gesneriad Society to best reflect who we are. Our Journal, founded in 1951 as THE GLOXINIAN, is now called GESNERIADS.

There are many benefits to joining The Gesneriad Society.

All members receive our quarterly publication, GESNERIADS, the Journal for Gesneriad Growers.  See excerpts.

Within this journal, illustrated with numerous color photos, you will find a mixture of botanical articles by scientific experts and horticultural articles by enthusiasts who grow these plants in their homes, gardens, and greenhouses all over the world. 

The journal also publishes reports on local and international activities such as annual conventions, symposia on gesneriads and other meetings; reports on gesneriad-related research (some of which is funded by the Society); and articles about gesneriads growing in the wild, written by plant explorers and/or members who live in areas where gesneriads grow wild. Special issues on a single genus (for example, Petrocosmea, Nematanthus) or topic (for example, Alpines) appear at intervals.

In its role as the International Registration Authority for gesneriads, the Society publishes listings, descriptions, and illustrations of newly registered gesneriad hybrids  in our Journal. Gesneriad Registers, or listings of all the named varieties within a genus, are published separately at intervals.

The Society supports gesneriad research via the Elvin McDonald Research Endowment Fund and provides scholarships to interested and deserving students of botany or horticulture via the Nellie D. Sleeth Scholarship Fund. 

Contributions to these funds are tax-deductible.

The Society produces educational CD’s for purchase, and 35 mm slide programs for rental. These cover a range of topics on the growing, showing, and botany of gesneriads. They are useful for local Chapter programs, garden club programs, horticulture classes, and libraries.

The Gesneriad Society Seed Fund, available only to members of the Society, is the largest source of gesneriad seed available in the world. Many species are available nowhere else. Much hybrid gesneriad seed is also offered through the Seed Fund. Seed is donated by members and is available at a very nominal cost. 

The Society holds an annual Convention every year, with meetings, lectures, tours, a Flower Show, Plant Sale, and the opportunity to meet other gesneriad enthusiasts from all over the globe.

Gesneriad Judging Schools, held at the Convention and other times and locations as well, give members the opportunity to learn more about culture and the grooming of gesneriads for flower shows. This in turn provides opportunities to judge and clerk at convention and local shows held throughout the year. A newsletter, Appraisal, is available to judges and all those interested in judging and growing gesneriads.

Local chapters, currently found throughout North America and in Sweden, have regular meetings, flower shows, plant exchanges, auctions, raffles and educational projects and provide the opportunity to socialize with other gesneriad growers.