Telanthera
| Origin: | ✈ | ? |
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| Exposure: | ☼ | ?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property. |
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| Water: | ◍ | ?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property. |
Read about Telanthera in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Telanthera (name refers to the fact that all ten parts of the staminal cup are equally developed). Amarantaceae. Alternanthera. Small much-used bedding plants, popular in design work because they are compact and stand shearing well. Apparently all the alternantheras used by gardeners as bedding plants belong to the genus Telanthera, which is distinguished from the true genus Alternanthera by having 5 anther-bearing stamens and 5 elongated antherless staminodia united into a cup or tube. In Alternanthera the tube is short or almost none, the anther-bearing stamens sometimes less than 5, and the staminodia short or none. Of Telantheras there are 40-50 species, mostly herbs, in Trop. Amer. and 1 in W. Afr. The lvs. are entire, ovate to elongated, opposite: fls. small, usually in dense heads in the axils, whitish or sometimes colored, perfect, each subtended by 2 bractlets. In Engler & Prantl, Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Schinz retains Telanthera under Alternanthera, not dividing the group. The alternantheras of gardeners are much used in carpet-bedding and for ribbon-borders, because of their low compact growth, the bright colors of the foliage, which holds its character throughout the season, and the ease with which they withstand shearing. They are usually kept within 6 inches of the ground. The plants are tender to frost, and grow best in warm sunny places. They comprise the stock plants for the foundation work in carpet-bedding. The flowers are inconspicuous and of no account to the gardener. The plants are propagated by cuttings or division. In either case, they must be carried over winter in the greenhouse or in hotbeds, preferably in the houses at the North. The plants should be kept at 60° or 65° during winter, and rather dry to hold them more or less dormant. Place them where they will receive only enough light to keep them healthy. (1) Cuttings are usually made in August from strong plants growing in the open. The cuttings may be struck in shallow flats and then wintered in these flats without transplanting. The cuttings should be well established before winter sets in, else they will remain weak. In March or April they may be potted off, preparatory to using them in the open. (2) Division is usually preferred by gardeners who have much bedding to do. The plants are lifted after the first frost, cut back to 3 or 4 inches long, and planted in flats. In March or April, the plants are divided and the parts (with the old roots shortened in) potted or transplanted to other flats. However grown, the plants should have four to six weeks in a hotbed if possible, before they are placed in the open ground. Even in the warm greenhouse they usually make slow growth in March and April. The botanical status of the garden alternantheras is imperfectly understood, and the group needs careful study from living plants. Various garden names cannot be accounted for at present. The common garden alternantheras appear to have issued from the first three following Brazilian species. CH
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Telanthera. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
- Telanthera QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)