Sinningia reitzii is a fine species from southern Brazil. It normally has perennial stems persisting from one year to the next, even though it also makes a substantial tuber. It flowers from the leaf axils, on peduncles usually bearing many flowers. The flowers are red, sometimes shaded toward magenta.

The seedlings of this species are particularly attractive. The leaves are dark green with a herringbone white pattern down the midrib. The backs of the leaves are dark red.

This pattern usually fades in the mature plant. Depending on how much light the plant is getting, the leafbacks may lose most of their red, but will retain the color along the midribs, as in the picture above.

Sinningia reitzii

Peduncle

This picture of Sinningia reitzii shows the red flowers, the red veins on the leafbacks, and the peduncle which distinguishes it from S. sp. "Black Hill".

Comparison to S. "Black Hill"

See the table for a comparison between S. reitzii and S. sp. "Black Hill".

Tuber

As can be seen in a picture, the tuber is multi-lobed.

Leaf back

Sinningia reitzii has intense red or maroon leafbacks, especially when young or grown in relatively low light.

Hybridization

Sinningia reitzii is an excellent parent for hybridization. To its offspring it usually imparts attractive dark leaves, tolerance of a variety of environments and culture, and most importantly, a long blooming season (usually late summer and autumn, but sometimes starting in early summer), generally longer than that of S. reitzii itself.

I have crossed S. reitzii with

S. lineata; the hybrid is S. 'Peninsula Belle'
S. iarae; the hybrid is unnamed, but has its own page.
S. cardinalis; the hybrid is unnamed, but has its own page.
S. leucotricha; the hybrid (named by Josephine Stefaniak of Toronto) is S. 'Toronto Ten'

Nancy Gilson crossed S. reitzii with S. eumorpha.

Feature table for Sinningia reitzii

Plant Description
Growth	Indeterminate
Habit	Stems upright, losing the lower leaves with age.
Leaves	Heart-shaped, dark green on top. Reverse is dark red in low light, green or red-tinged in higher light. Young seedlings have white herringbone stripe down center of leaf.
Dormancy	Stems persistent even in winter, bases not deciduous even when stem is chopped
Flowering
Inflorescence	axillary cymes, almost always more than one flower per axil.
Flowering	Late summer through late autumn
Flower	Red, tubular, lobes sometimes spotted.
Horticultural aspects
Hardiness	Tubers have survived 28 F (-2 C) but not 26 F (-3 C) in my back yard.
Recommended?	Yes. Nice foliage, especially in not-so-bright light.
Hybridization
Hybrids with this species	See listing.
Botany
Taxonomic group	In the perennial stems group of the Dircaea clade.

Publication

Sinningia reitzii was first published (as a Rechsteineria) in 1958 by Frederico Carlos Hoehne. Lawrence Skog transferred it to Sinningia in 1987.