Iresine

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

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Read about Iresine in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Iresine (Greek name for a harvest garland wound with wool: the flowers and seeds of these plants are woolly). Amarantaceae. Achyranthes. Ornamental- leaved bedding plants. Low, spreading, climbing or erect herbs or subshrubs: lvs. stalked, opposite, the margins not toothed in the domestic species: fls. very small, bracteate, in axillary or terminal panicles, perfect or imperfect (plants sometimes dioecious), the perianth of one series terete, 5- parted, with ovate-oblong segms.; stamens 5; style short or none, the stigmas 2 or 3: fr. a utriculus.—Species 20-25 in Trop. and Subtrop. Amer. Two or 3 species are in common cult, as bedding-plants, because of their highly colored lvs. and sts. The first of these to be intro. was described before the fls. were known and it was referred to Achyranthes (A. verschaffeltii), but in that genus the anthers are 2- loculed, whereas in Iresine they are 1- loculed. To gardeners they are still known as Achyranthes. Because of ease of propagation, ability to withstand sun and shearing, and the bright colors, the iresines are amongst the most popular bedding - plants. Few plants are easier to grow. Stock plants are kept over winter in a cool temperature (as in a carnation house), and in February and March they are given more heat and moisture, and cut back, to get cutting wood. Cuttings root quickly in any good cutting-bed. For mass bedding, plants are usually set 6 to 10 inches apart. They will not withstand frost. I. biemuelleri, Voss (Achyranthes biemuelleri, Haage & Schmidt), is probably a garden form of one of the above. It is a compact, dwarf grower, withstanding severe cutting: lvs. and twigs rose-carmine. L H B The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

? Iresine
Iresine herbstii
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Caryophyllales Family: Amaranthaceae Genus: Iresine

Iresine is a genus which have a number garden ornamental plants in the family Amaranthaceae. These plants are found in the wild in tropical America, and there are between 20 and 25 species. However, only some species are usually cultivated because they have colored foliage, which is called bloodleaf.

Species include:

• Iresine angustifolia Euph.
• Iresine argentata (Mart.) D. Dietr.
• Iresine diffusa Humb. et Bonpl. ex Willd. (= Iresine celosia, Iresine celosioides, Iresine canescens, Iresine paniculata (L.) Kuntze, Iresine elongata)
  • Iresine diffusa f. lindenii (=Iresine lindenii)
• Iresine elatior
• Iresine flavescens Humb. et Bonpl. ex Willd.
• Iresine grandiflora
• Iresine herbstii Hook. ex Lindl.
• Iresine heterophylla Standl.
• Iresine keyensis
• Iresine leptoclada (Hook. f.) Henrickson et Sundberg
• Iresine macrophylla R.E.Fr. (= Cruzeta celosioides (L.) M.Gómez, Celosia paniculata L., Iresine celosioides L.)
• Iresine polymorpha Mart.
• Iresine palmeri (S. Wats.) Standl.
• Iresine rhizomatosa Standl.

Some members of the genus are used as additives to some versions of the hallucinogenic drink Ayahuasca.

References

General references

• Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11892.