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Sinningia allagophylla, one of the "meadow" species, has small red flowers on tall stalks.
Where's my lunch?
Sinningia allagophylla, like the related S. curtiflora, makes secondary tubers on rhizomes (botanically speaking, these are stems, not roots, even though they are underground), as can be seen in this picture. Presumably the extra tubers are both nutrient reserves and propagation devices. They also provide a measure of security in case the primary tuber is destroyed. These secondary tubers seem to appear at a fairly early stage, as this is a relatively young plant.
The idea for taking the photograph this way, as well as the inspiration for the caption, came from my 9 1/2 year old neighbor Erin Mittmann. Who knows what she'll be coming up with by the time she is 10 1/2!
This is one of the tall, sun-loving species. My seedling has not bloomed yet, so this picture, showing red spots on the stem, will have to do for the moment. These red markings are found on the stems of other species too, most notably Sinningia lineata. Since S. lineata and S. allagophylla are not closely related, being in different subdivisions ("clades") of the genus, these stem markings do not appear to have taxonomic meaning, but it certainly is interesting that they appear in distinct branches of Sinningia, but not in (for instance) Nematanthus (as far as I know).
The page which discusses the incentives for a plant to make a tuber has a picture of S. allagophylla seedlings recovering from complete defoliation.
| Plant Description |
|
| Growth | Indeterminate |
| Habit | Upright stems |
| Leaves | Ordinary corytholoma-type, usually opposite, occasionally whorled |
| Dormancy | Stems fully deciduous |
Flowering |
|
| Flowering season | |
| Inflorescence | Extended axis |
| Flower | Red, tubular |
Horticultural aspects |
|
| Hardiness | Has survived 32 F (0 C) in my yard. |
Botany |
|
| Taxonomic group | The tall-or-sticky group of the Corytholoma clade. |
See a picture on Ron Myhr's Gesneriad Reference Web.
Sinningia tribracteata (see the page on Mauro Peixoto's web site) may be a synonym of S. allagophylla.
Sinningia allagophylla was first published (as a Gesneria) in 1829 by Carl Friedrich Phillip von Martius (1794-1868). It was later the type species of Rechsteineria (1848). Hans Wiehler transferred it to Sinningia in 1975.
Etymology: allago- ("different" ?) + -phyll ("leaf").