Sinningia conspicua

This species is notable for the lemony fragrance of its flowers, which most people find pleasant.

1. Drought tolerance
2. Going dormant
3. Hybridization
4. Feature table
5. Publication and etymology

Sinningia conspicua has pale cream or yellowish flowers with a yellow stripe down the center of the tube.  There are usually purple markings in the yellow stripe.

Drought tolerance

Sinningia conspicua is not very happy when the soil dries out.  As with some other species, most notably S. warmingii, the first symptom is leaf curl.

After being watered, the plant recovers in a day or so.

Going Dormant

In my yard, this species is one of the first sinningias to go dormant in the autumn.

You won't see this kind of picture on other web sites.

Hybridization

I have crossed this species with S. 'Peninsula Belle', and the resulting hybrid plants usually have flowers with a detectable but diminished conspicua aroma.  The flower color (lavender with lavender streaks in a yellow throat) I find unappealing, but others have been less negative about it.

One very positive trait that S. conspicua gave to its progeny in this cross is speed to bloom. S. 'Peninsula Belle' x conspicua plants bloomed much faster from seed than did S. 'Peninsula Belle' x self (the slowness of the latter apparently being a legacy of S. lineata).  This trait, which it shares with its close relative Sinningia eumorpha, makes this species a very useful starting point for a hybridization project.

There is a side view of one of the conspicua hybrid flowers on the Peninsula Belle flower comparison page.

Others, including Ruth Coulson, Jon Lindstrom, Peter Shalit, Jim Steuerlein, and Dan Tomso, have used this species for hybridizing.  It bequeaths to its offspring many of the same good qualities that Sinningia eumorpha imparts, with the additional possibility of fragrance.  See the Dircaea-clade crossing table for more references.

Jim Steuerlein crossed this species with S. polyantha.