Lovers of home flowers appreciate violet fortouching beauty and tenderness. But among the huge variety of flowers, Saintpaulia, or the barbarous violet, is particularly distinguished, the chimera violet being a unique subspecies of which. What is this miracle and why flower growers around the world collect this plant?
Saintpaulia, who are you?
Saintpaulia - a representative of the tropical familygesneric It belongs to the genus of flowering and is considered one of the most common indoor flowers. At least one of the names of this species is Saint-Petersburg violet; the flower has nothing to do with ordinary indoor violets. These are completely different plants. Violet, or pansies, is a representative of the violet family and is a garden, not a tropical flower.
What flower is called chimera?
Not every saintpaulia is a chimera.So called a plant in which cells of different types of Saintpaulias are intertwined, merged together. What is unique is that the cells of the primary plants do not mix with each other. Each petal consists of two genetic layers differing in coloring. The main layer of cells gives a background color to the petals, and an additional layer creates a clear band or spot. If you make a cross-section of the petal, the background (main) and additional cells are clearly distinguishable.
Meaning of the word
Why some species of Saintpaulia called "chimera violet" is now clear. And what exactly does this name mean?
The word "Chimera" comes from Greek mythology.This was the name of the mythological monster, which has a lion's head, a goat’s body and a dragon tail. If biologists told about this creature, they would emphasize that the organism consists of three groups of cellular tissue with different genetic features. Agree that it is rather difficult to believe in the existence of such an organism, this was the reason for the appearance of the second meaning in the word. So began to call the quaint fantasies, which are hard to believe. Violet Chimera - the most bizarre fantasy created by man from natural material. Probably for her and appreciate.
How do chimeras appear
No matter how hard the scientists try, to bring the chimera intolaboratory they have not yet come out. For the first time, a similar flower was the result of a partial mutation. It happened like this: a large group of cells inherited maternal symptoms, and a smaller part of the cells - signs of another type. This mutation happened more than a hundred years ago, just at that period when Saintpaulia was cultivated and became popular in home gardening.
The chimeric mutations were completely random at first.The fact is that different types of tissues simply adjoined to each other, and did not mix, therefore the mutation was unstable and rarely reproduced during reproduction. So the pink violet chimera with a violet stripe at reproduction produced monochromatic plants.
First difficulties
The official communities did not immediately agree thatChimeras can be considered a separate variety Saintpaulia. The American community of flower growers who love violets has motivated their refusal by the fact that it is impossible to achieve the repetition of plant color during cutting. It was necessary to prove for a long time that violet (Saintpaulia) gives flowering and leaf chimeras with other methods of reproduction.
Today it is proved that instabilityreproduction can be overcome, and there are no problems with registering new varieties. However, the methods of obtaining such plants are very laborious, which could not but affect the price of chimeras. So, in America, baby chimera violets cost from 5 to 30 dollars.
Types of chimeras
Despite the fact that the color range of chimeras is very diverse, the plants are divided into only 2 types of color:
- Straight. In this case, the petals have a lighter color than the central band.
- Back. In such a chimera, the central band is lighter than the base of the petal.
But even with this separation there are plants, notfall under any of the types. These may be leaf chimeras. Violet Saintpaulia simply striking in its originality. For example, a leaf chimera has a monophonic flower, but there are unique patterns on the leaves, which is also very beautiful.
Varieties of chimeras
There are a lot of varieties of izambarsky violets.The official list of more than a hundred. Some varieties belong to the expensive collection, some - to industrial. Often, industrial varieties have less decorative value, but have a long abundant flowering.
In general, chimera violets, varieties of which are sometimes difficult to classify, have the following varieties:
- standard;
- mini;
- semi-mini;
- suspended (ampel or trailer);
- leafy.
New varieties are obtained by hard work,but sometimes genetic failures occur, and the usual saintpaulia produces chimeric flowers. The flower grower becomes the owner of a unique chimera, existing in a single copy.
How to propagate the chimera
Normal violet easily propagated by cuttingleaves. With chimeras, as you already understood, this number does not pass. Propagating violet chimeras is much more difficult. For repetition of fantasy color, 3 types of offspring have been developed:
- Rooting peduncle.In this case, the characteristic of the peduncle Senpolia, which has a bract with a dormant bud. When rooting a pedicle, the kidney emerges from dormancy and develops into a baby. This preserves the chimeric qualities of the flower.
- Rooting of the separated tops of the plant.The upper part of the flower is cut off without damaging the growth point and planted in a pot with a light substrate. During the month, the tip is kept in greenhouse conditions to form roots.
- Нарушение точки роста растения.After the apex has been removed, the plant remains without a growth point, which leads to the formation of stepsons with new apical points. The butchers can be separated and rooted, preserving the fantasy colors of the primary plant.
Sometimes florists are lucky, and stepchildren are formed on the plant themselves. Violet Chimera, the reproduction of which does not require additional efforts - a great success.
Proper care
In order for the blooming beauty to feel well in the new house, she needs to provide decent care. To do this, remember the basic rules:
- Violet Chimera prefers windows to the east or west.
- Placement should be well lit, but direct sunlight is unacceptable.
- The most favorable temperature in the room -+ 22-24 ° C. Interestingly, when growing chimeras, it is necessary to maintain the same temperature day and night. If it fluctuates, then the flowers will receive an unsaturated color gamut and will differ from each other.
- If the temperature is too high, the content of the saintpaulia may darken and lose its fantasy color. The flower will be monotonous, but under favorable conditions, the next bloom will again be chimeric.
- Water Saintpaulia must be separated by waterroom temperature. Watering can be made both in the pallet, and from above. Excess moisture in 10-15 minutes is drained. The frequency of watering a plant depends on the temperature and humidity of the room. This is usually 1-2 times a week.
- Частые подкормки химерам не нужны.But if the flower is depleted, then you can use liquid or granular fertilizer for saintpaulia. Overfeeding the plant can not. It is best to feed once a month.
Following the above recommendations, you can grow a beautiful, extraordinary plant that will become the pride of a grower.
