A family of dicotyledonous plants of the order Yasnotkaceae. These are mainly grasses, shrubs and shrubs, sometimes small trees. You can find among acanthus vines, xerophytes, marsh plants (Avicennia). About 250 genera are common in nature, including almost 2800 species.
Acanthus distribution sites are very wide - tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. These are mainly moist forests, from 1600 to 2000 m above sea level, sometimes floodplains of rivers, and in some xerophytes (Petalidium Petalidium) - arid areas of Africa or Asia. Many acanthus plants received their calling as indoor, and more often greenhouse plants. Among the acanthus there are both ornamental deciduous and ornamental flowering plants.
The leaves are simple, whole or pinnate, elliptical or ovoid, located opposite on the stems. The flowers are zygomorphic, solitary or collected in inflorescences, often spike-shaped. In many species, flowers have bright large bracts. The calyx is usually 4-5 lobed, with a tubular corolla, in some species the corolla is two-lipped (pachystachis) or five-lobed (tunbergia, erantemum). Stamens two or four (in two pairs). Ovary upper, two-nested. The fruit is a two-nested box, which opens like a shell - with two leaves. The peculiarities of the opening of the capsule and the distribution of seeds were studied by botanists with great care. It turned out that the acanthus seed has a small hooked outgrowth, inside the fruit it is strongly pressed, bent in the manner of a spring. The fruit shell dries unevenly during ripening, cracks in places, at one moment the hooks straighten, and the seeds are shot from the burst shell, scattering in all directions. In addition, this small hook can cling to the fur of animals, and the seeds are carried over long distances.
The Acanthaceae family includes four subfamilies:
- Acanthoideae - the most numerous subfamily, includes several subtribes: Acantheae, Andrographideae, Barlerieae, Justicieae, Ruellieae, Whitfieldieae, each of which includes several genera.
- Avicenia Avicennioideae (the only genus of Avicennia (mangroves)).
- Nilsonioideae (includes genera: Anisosepalum, Elytraria, Gynocraterium, Nelsonia, Ophiorrhiziphyllon, Saintpauliopsis, Staurogyne);
- Thunbergioideae (includes genera: Anomacanthus, Mendoncia, Meyenia, Pseudocalyx, Thunbergia).
Acanthus care
- Moderately warm content, acanthus do not tolerate summer heat. At temperatures above 28 degrees, thin leaves evaporate too much moisture, it is necessary to monitor irrigation and increase air humidity. In winter, most acanthus also prefer a moderate temperature of 15-16 ° C, but not lower than 12 ° C. The
- needs for sunlight in most acanthus can be described as follows: "Bright scattered light." At the same time, some of them require a certain amount of direct sunlight, such as white feathers, others, like fittonia, lose color with too intense lighting. The most ideal place is the windowsill of the east window. Near the south window, plants are hot and can burn out. But if the south window is open for ventilation, and the sun is shaded by a light veil or organza, acanthus grow beautifully. Many of the acanthus grow well on the northern windowsills. Such windows are especially successful for non-flowering fittonias.
- Acanthus, like most tropical plants, love moist air. It is better to place small pots on wide pallets with wet peat or moss-sphagnum. If there are central heating batteries nearby, the flow of hot air from them must be isolated - cover the batteries with wet sheets or fence off the window sill along the edge with a film or glass.
- Watering, as a rule, is plentiful in summer, as soon as the top layer of the earth dries. In winter, moderate - after the upper layer of the earth dries, wait 2-3 days with the next irrigation. In any case, the soil in the depths of the pot should not dry up to dust.
