Solandra


Solandra maxima


Plant Characteristics
Cultivation
Scientific Names

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Read about Solandra in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Solandra (named for Daniel C. Solander, a Swedish naturalist and traveler, 1736-1786). Solanaceae. Very tall glabrous woody showy-flowered vines suitable for the warmhouse, and grown in the open in the warmest parts of the United States.

Leaves entire, leathery, shiny: fls. very large, white; the pedicels solitary and thick; calyx long-tubular, 2-5-cleft at the top; corolla funnelform, the tube cylindrical, the throat oblique and broad-campanulate, lobes broad; stamens 5; ovary 2-celled: berry globose, pulpy. —About 4 species, Trop. Amer.

Solandras are attractive plants and their needs are simple. A warm greenhouse—one in which the temperature is never allowed to fall below 50°—will suit them very well in the eastern states. The plants would probably do well outdoors in Florida and the far South. They like plenty of light and sunshine at all seasons of the year, and water should be given freely from early autumn till the latter part of spring, as they make their growth and bloom during that period. In summer, when the wood is ripening, a dry state is preferable for them. The soil that gives the most satisfactory results is a good, somewhat sandy loam. It is unwise to disturb the roots of established plants more frequently than is necessary. The chief point in growing solandras is to obtain short, sturdy branches, for those of rank growth seldom or never develop flowers; for this reason the use of rich soils and strong fertilizers should be avoided always. Propagated by cuttings of firm young shoots taken with a heel and placed in slight bottom heat. S. grandiflora is perhaps the best. The flowers do not last more than four or five days. They are of a pretty greenish white color when they first open and turn slowly to a rich brownish yellow. CH


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