Mystery Plant- Chrysothemis pulchella
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
Well one of the Mystery Plant has been identified by Susan Philipsand Shaini Philips who recognised it and identified it as Chrysothemis pulchella which is commonly known as Copper leaf as well as by the names Sunset Bells, Black Flamingo, and Chrysothemis.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
Susan and Shaini recognised it from their home gardens in Samoa.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
Chrysothemis pulchella is a tender tropical plant belonging
to the Chrysothemis
Genus which includes six (6) species of which Chrysothemis pulchella
is the most widely spread with the greatest variety. I have not come across any
other cultivars yet but will keep my eye open.
Incidentally the Chrysothemis Genus is part of the Family: Gesneriaceae. This is the same family to which belongs the much more
widely known Saintpaulia
which is better known by its common name African Violet. Another familiar genus is that
of Episcia otherwise known as Flame Violets.
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Episcia (2 varieties)
At the moment I have two species neither of which I am certain of their actual species names. Of the plants I have one variety has green leaves with greyish-white markings along the veins while the other has darker almost burgandy leaves which in sunlight have pale green markings and Pink Flowers. |
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| Episcia (unkown species) |
The actual flower of Chrysothemis pulchella is bright yellow and does not last long. The bright orange calyx which people mistake for the flower are much longer lasting for which I am thankful for.
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| Yellow Chrystothemis pulchella flower (top) and withered flower (below) |
Various sources as usual give a lot of details on how to grow it in temperate climates. But I have not been able to find much on growing it in the tropics which is a problem I have found when looking for information on growing tropical plants in the tropics.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
Although it may seem unnecessary to provide information for growing tropical plants in the tropics such a view ignores the fact that although the plants may indeed be in a suitable climate it is important to know the sun/shade preferences not to mention, soil composition and water needs. Then of course there is vital information about propagation methods and dealing with pests and diseases which in the tropics are often numerous and without the winter killing off period that temperate climates have.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
In any case there is a plethora of documents, books, articles and on line
information for growing not only tropical plants in temperate climates but
plants from temperate zones in temperate zones so the paucity of information
and resources for tropical horticulturalists is frustrating. That is one reason
why I have been trying to compile some of this data from various sources.
Fortunately I find that there are some Australian and New Zealand sources that
provide information on growing tropical plants in the tropics.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella found growing at Tamumalala (Upolu, Samoa) on moss covered concrete wall. |
Etymology
The etymology of Chrysothemis pulchella is Greco Roman. The genus is named
after Chrysothemis of Greek mythology, the daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon while the species
‘pulchella’ comes from the Latin for pretty/beautiful.
Propagating Chrysothemis pulchella
Propagating Chrysothemis pulchella can be done when shoots appear where the
flower bracts were (at the joint between the stalk and the leaf). I have
successfully rooted several cuttings using this method which while slow is
reasonable successful.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella shoots emerging a base of leaves. |
I have done this with shoots that range between two (2) to five (5) inches.
I just snip them off at the base and stick them in growing medium. I have equal
success with river silt, soil and river sand.
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| Large Chrysothemis pulchella shoot growing at base of leaf |
I prefer river silt and sand because they retain moisture without becoming
waterlogged and if you over water the excess drains out quickly whereas with
soil you need to be more careful to not over water or under water during the
critical rooting stage. That is just my experience. Sometimes you can get lucky
and have new shoots appear where you removed a shoot although I am not sure how
normal this is.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
I have not found any other method of propagating them although I suspect
that they may seed although I have not seen any seeds. In the wild I have noted
that they tend to grow on moss covered rock and do not have an extensive root system.
I have been debating very carefully up rooting one of my long established
plants to examine the root system. However, as I had some young plants in my nursery that had been attacked by some pest (probably a slug since I have noticed the African Snails avoid it), I decided to look at one of those.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella roots and rhizome |
Above you can see the poor plant whose soft stem was practically eatten though. Note the dense bulb of root mass.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella roots and rhizome |
Above you can see a close up of that root mass which even after washing it out was still not enough to be able to distinguish much. So I stripped away the fine stringlike roots and ...
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| Chrysothemis pulchella roots and rhizome |
Just as described in various sources ... there was a rhizome!
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| Chrysothemis pulchella roots and rhizome with plantlet emerging from rhizome |
On closer inspection I noticed a small plantlet forming at the base. According to some sources the plant's stem and foliage can wither and disappear during periods of drought but new shoots will emerge from the rhizome. Since the foliage and stem of this plant had been practically consumed by whatever has attacked it, the formation of the tiny plantlet illustrated this development/ability.
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| Pebble of the Ninja Cat Clan inspecting Chrysothemis pulchella rhizome |
Then as always ny nosey assistants came in to inspect the rhizome for themselves (helpfully putting paw marks all over the clean sheet of drawing paper I had sacrificed in orfer to have a clean white background for these photos.
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| Ninja Cat Clan Kittens; Pebble (left) and Stoney (Right) Inspect Chrysothemis pulchella rhizome |
First Pebble came and stuck his nose where it did not belong. Then Stoney came to see what all the fuss was about and finally Rocky turned up and proceeded to garb it and try to kill it, so I put a stop to their fun and games because I wanted to plant it and hopefully save it.
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| Rocky of the Ninja Cat Clan joins inspection of Chrysothemis pulchella rhizome |
Then Serendipity struck as I decided to take some more photos of the Chrysothemis pulchellas I had in some pots on a shelf. I took some flower shots and then as I moved the pots to get them into the sunlight I suddenly noticed something that none of the sources I had consulted mentioned and for which I had not seen an pictures of.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella with rhizomes beneath plantlets growing on stem |
As you can see in the photo above and the ones below, the shoots that have formed at the base of the leaves where they meet the stem have formed little balls which obviously are the rhizomes.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella with rhizomes beneath plantlets growing on stem |
I had not noticed this before due to where the plants were situated and how they drapped over the pots on the sunny side.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella with rhizomes beneath plantlets growing on stem |
In this one above you can see small nodules that look like little plantlets or perhaps roots developing.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella with rhizomes beneath plantlets growing on stem |
Here is a nice close up of one of the nicest, biggest rhizomes with a plantlet growing out of it. I am not sure why the earlier shoots grew rather long and big but had no rhizomes and now I have all these rhizomes appearing.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella and Ferns |
Perhaps the plants are older or perhaps they are under stress being in direct sun for a reasonable period of time and the plants are trying to ensure that they will be able to propagate and survive. Certainly a plantlet with a big rhizome would have a higher chance of surviving than a stem alone.
Although the plantlet cuttings did all grow they struggled a bit and I needed to move them to a shaded spot so they did not dry out.
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| Chrysothemis pulchella |
If anyone has an explanation I would be fascinated to hear it. In anycase like they say you learn something new everyday and well if you keep your eyes open you will see thing that are right infront of you but that most people never notice.
Acknowledgements
Susan Philips: Identification of Chrysothemis pulchella
Shaini Philips: Identification of Chrysothemis pulchella
Additional
Information:
Binomial Name:
Chrysothemis pulchella
Common names:
Copper leaf, Sun's Bells, Black Flamingo, Chrysothemis
Binomial Name: Episcia UNKNOWN
Common names:
Flame Violet (English) Name (Language)
Binomial Name: Saintpaulia UNKNOWN
Common names: African Violet (English) violette africaine, voilette du Cap (French) violeta africana (Spanish)
Taxonomy
- Family: Gensneriaceae - Genus: Chrysothemis - Species: Chrysothemis pulchella
- Family: Gesneriaceae - Genus: Saintpaulia
- Family: Gesneriaceae - Genus: Episcia
References:
How to Know and Grow Gesneriaceaes, The Gesneriad Society
Other Blogs:
Here is a list of my blogs:
·
Flora and
Fauna - Plants and Critters (on plants, animals as well as gardening,
conservation and environmental matters): http://plantsandcritters.blogspot.com/
·
The Blood
of Souls (language,
translation and etymology) : http://thebloodofsouls.blogspot.com/
·
Whiskers on
Kittens (Life with Kittens and Cats in general) : http://whiskersonkittens-vincent.blogspot.com/
