Gloxinia Gloxinia

Gesnerium family. The birthplace of the Andes gloxinium and South America, one species is found in Central America and the West Indies. In total, only three species of gloxinium and one interspecific hybrid have official status. In Russia, gloxinia are not found as a houseplant. What we used to call gloxinia actually - Sinningia beautiful - a popular houseplant was originally described and introduced into the culture as Gloxinia beautiful (speciosa), and is still widely known among flower lovers as "gloxinia." In fact, it's time to get used to using real botanical names.

The difference between the plants Sinningia and Gloxinia is that Sinningia form a tuber, and Gloxinia form rhizome plants, they have a scaly underground rhizome, similar to the begonium rhizome. Real species Gloxinia are very rare, you can't buy them in a regular flower shop.

But what types of gloxinia are known:

Gloxinia perennial "Gloxinia perennis" is a herbaceous plant with an underground scaly rhizome. The stem is erect, glabrous and reaches a height of 60-100 cm. The leaves are opposite, glabrous with noticeable venation, obovate, narrowed at the end; petiole short, about 1 cm. Stems and petioles green with reddish stripes, veins on the leaf light green. The stems gradually turn into a peduncle. The flowers are bell-shaped, drooping, pale violet or violet lavender with a slight mint aroma. Corolla tube about 4 cm long. The flowering period is from mid-summer to mid-autumn. The fruit is an elliptical box containing numerous small seeds. Homeland - Central and South America, mainly in the Andes. Gloxinia perennial grows in small or wide colonies on rocks, along river banks, or in rare moist undergrowth. It has a pronounced dormant period in winter. This type of gloxinia is not grown so often at home, since seeds and cuttings can only be obtained from collectors of gesnerium.

Gloxinia erinoides Gloxinia erinoides - found from Costa Rica to Bolivia. A low herbaceous plant with an underground scaly rhizome and tiny white with burgundy flowers that have a pronounced coconut aroma. The leaves are opposite, oblong, narrowed to the tip, but not pointed, but slightly rounded at the end, 5-9 cm long. The leaves of the original species are dark green with burgundy veins. The stems are erect at first, then drooping. Peduncle about 15 cm long, with a racemose inflorescence. The flowers are small, about 1-1.5 cm in diameter, usually bicolored - the upper corolla lobes are red or bard, the lower ones are white, the flowers are similar in shape to shoe orchids. This species of gloxinium is smaller than the perennial gloxinium. It is also grown at home, and two varieties are popular: Gloxinia erinoides' Polo Polo '- with green leaves and light green veins, the stems at the base are reddish; and Gloxinia erinoides' Red Satin '- with dark green leaves speckled with light, petioles, stems and leaves on the back are reddish (purple) with white short pubescence. The synonym is Köllikeria erinoides Koellikeria erinoides. Photo of gloxinia erinoides from Scott Zona - an American biologist, naturalist and collector, author of hundreds of articles on tropical plants:

Gloxinia Dragon Song (Dragonsong) Gloxinia x dragonsong is an interspecies hybrid from the Gloxinia erinoides variety "Red Satin" and Gloxinia perennis. As you can see, this gloxinia inherited both maternal and paternal genes:

Gloxinia xanthophylla is a herbaceous plant native to Ecuador and Peru, at an altitude of about 450-500 m above sea level, in a tropical rain forest in open areas, along clearings. This species of gloxinia has neither a tuber nor a scaly rhizome. In nature, gloxinium xanthophylla is a rather large plant, about 50-60 cm tall, and grown in a pot is much smaller. Shoots are initially erect, then drooping, on average up to 30 cm, the bush has a semi-ampel shape. The leaves are opposite, oblong-elongated, pointed at the end, with a small-horned edge. Above, the leaves are medium green, the reverse side gray, with pronounced venation. The flowers are bell-shaped, on long peduncles in racemose inflorescences. Sepals are green with short pubescence, flowers are snow-white, corolla tube about 2 cm long. The fruit is a box with numerous seeds. All parts of the plant are covered with a short slight pubescence. This is an extremely rare plant, you will not find it even in the collections of professional lovers of gesnerium. The photos presented below belong to the Smithsonian Institution (a research and educational institute in the USA), the National Museum of Natural History, the Department of Botany - a copy was grown in the greenhouses of this institute. Photos are posted for informational purposes only:

Gloxinia care

At home, gloxinia can grow in a warm, bright room with high humidity and with rhizomes remaining at rest in coolness and dryness.

How to care for gloxinia Severina's story of growing synningia (gloxinia), a collector's experience.

Temperature: Gloxinia grow well at 22-24 ° C, do not like heat above 28 ° C - in nature at this temperature the humidity is high, and in houses it is too dry, do not forget to open windows for ventilation in summer. For good growth and flowering, daily temperature fluctuations of about 5-6 ° C are required, but not lower than 18 ° C. All species have a pronounced dormant period, without which they cannot continue to grow normally and, moreover, bloom. Therefore, from the end of October - November they need a cool room, where the temperature is within 14-15 ° C, but not lower than 12 ° C.

Lighting: Gloxinia is light-loving, but it requires bright diffused light. In direct summer sun, burns may appear on the leaves. Ideal for growing gloxinium east or northwest window. In low light, flowers need to be illuminated with fluorescent or LED lamps for 14-16 hours.

Watering: Gloxinia are watered quite abundantly during growth and flowering, but excessive dampness is destructive for them. When watering, warm water without chlorine is used. With the end of flowering, watering is reduced, since October they water very little, the rest period is almost dry.

• Top dressing: One and a half months after transplantation, every two weeks feed with special fertilizers for senpoli or fertilizers for flowering indoor plants (containing a sufficiently large amount of potassium and phosphorus, little nitrogen), but at a dose two times less than recommended. Overfeeding with fertilizers, gloxinia are poorly tolerated, it is better to underfeed.

Air humidity: Gesnerium love very humid air, optimally 70-75%. This is not particularly difficult if you place pots in a terrarium, spreading moist sphagnum moss between them. If without a greenhouse, then you need to put an air humidifier next to the plants.

Transplantation: Every year in the spring in fresh ground, the pot should not be too spacious - small pots are suitable, as for violets. Perennial gloxinia need pots a little more - 12-13 cm in diameter, Gloxinia erinoides - miniature, it has enough pots about 8 cm in diameter. For planting, store soil for senpoli or a mixture of 2 parts of sheet land, 1 parts of peat (or greenhouse land) and 1 parts of river sand is used. The soil should have a slightly acidic reaction, pH = 5.5-6.5. Good drainage is mandatory. When transplanting, the risoma is sprinkled with earth.

Gloxinia propagation

Gloxinia reproduce by seeds, leaf cuttings, division of the rhizome (bush). Seeds can be found online on the sites of gesnerium collectors. They are sown in a mixture of leaf earth and sand (in equal parts), they germinate at a temperature of 24-25 ° C. Fresh seeds have a good germination. The plate with seeds should be covered with glass or film, it is good to use transparent plastic boxes from cakes or cakes as a mini-greenhouse. Moisten crops by spraying, ventilate 2-3 times a day. As soon as seedlings appear, good lighting will be required, it is worth putting a greenhouse under daylight lamps.

Gloxinium is easily propagated by cuttings, a leaf with a heel (a piece of stem). You can root in water, in a glass, like senpoli, or in moist vermiculite in a warm place. First, the handle has thin hairy roots, then the rhizome, a scaly rhizome, gradually grows. If it has not grown back while the handle was rooted, it's okay, as soon as the roots form a brush about 2 cm, they can be seated in small pots or yogurt cups. Young plants especially need moist air and good lighting.