This little white fringed flower is so endearing and it belongs to the Alsobia dianthiflora or lace flower. Let’s discuss this easy-to-grow flowering houseplant and easy methods to look after it.
This fringed flower is so endearing
I feel mine above is the cultivar Alsobia dianthiflora ‘Cygnet’, a cross between A. dianthiflora and A. punctata. One other cultivar you could discover is ‘San Miguel’, which has extra distinguished purple spots. Alsobia was within the genus Episcia, however was modified to Alsobia and the species identify dianthiflora means “resembles dianthus”, which is you will have grown dianthus, additionally they have fringed flowers, like mine under.
That is my dianthus, which doesn’t have extraordinarily fringed petals, however there are species and hybrids with loopy fringed petals
Gesneriad member of the family
The alsobia plant is a cousin to the African violet and it’s obvious whenever you see its fuzzy, scalloped leaves. Although the leaves are comparable, the lengthy stolons it sends out, should not.
Alsobia ‘Cygnet’ flowers with purple spots
Stoloniferous plant
The lengthy runners or stolons the plant sends out are one of many means it makes use of to breed itself. In fact, as a flowering plant, it additionally produces seeds. The skinny, pink to burgundy runners creep alongside the bottom attaching themselves with small plantlets, changing into a floor cowl of their pure habitat of Mexico, Central, and components of northern South America. The foliage is so fuzzy like an African violetThe flower emerges from the foliageThe flower is white with purple spotsThe alsobia flower can be fuzzy, just like the foliage
House Care
Alsobias are simple to look after and can flower reliably when cared for accurately. This care consists of not permitting them to dry out fully, good porous potting medium, and the proper gentle. This plant might be cultivated together with your different gesneriads, resembling African violets, episcias, and columneas, whether or not you’re rising them in your home windows or beneath lights.
Gentle
This one is rising beneath LED lights which are on for roughly 8 hours per day. As a result of the stolons hold down fairly far, I didn’t know the plant was flowering till I moved it to water one other plant. The stolons that had been nearer to the sunshine have flowers and I ought to have been turning the plant so it obtained constant gentle all the way in which round. Aren’t the flowers cute? I develop it on a small stand so the stolons can hold down. This may make an ideal hanging basket plant, which is commonly how it’s discovered to buy. I discovered this small potted one at Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor, Michigan of their reward store. I’m at all times on the lookout for the weird plant to buy.
