ID a trailing gesneriad

18 years ago

I rescued an african-violet-type plant in a hanging basket. Has rosettes of leaves clustered along trailing stems and the remains of a few fringed white flowers. Could someone tell me what this might be? There's no label in the pot, but someone in the store said the proper name began with an A, and included a term somenthing like "dianthiflora" since it has fringed flowers.

What kind of care does it need, and what would I have to do to get it to bloom well? I have a small greenhouse, but it gets down into the high 50's in there during winter nights. Would this plant grow in that environment?

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Comments (8)

larry_b
18 years ago
A. Dianthiflora stands for Alsobia Dianthiflora. They are related to episcias. Is this it?

{{gwi:829832}}

I will post a url at the bottom of Ron Myer's web site and and you can learn a little bit about it if that is what you have. If you do have an Alsobia I don't think it will do well in 50 degree weather. They like it a little warmer than their episcia cousins. I would not let them get much below 65Â° at night and much higher during the daytime.

I treat mine very much like an African violet. I just got mine to bloom for the first time this May and have gotten sporadic blooms ever since. I think it's a really cool plant.

Larry

Here is a link that might be useful: alsobia dianthiflora
larry_b
18 years ago
Well,

I just looked out on the web and found kartuz greenhouses and they say that A. dianthiflora is hardy down to 35Â°. Go figure, so I stand corrected. I could have sworn that my gessie friends said that they like warmer conditions. It's hard to argue with an expert.

Larry

Here is a link that might be useful: Kartuz greenhouse
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domeman
18 years ago
Looks like Episcia dianthiflora to me.

great gesneriad - I had several which have trailed down over 3 feet.
HollyT
Original Author
18 years ago
That's it. Thanks. THey came to our garden store in a shipment of house plants from CA. Here in Virginia, no one seems to know what it is, so we haven't sold any. I think I'll cut it back and keep it under lights with the orchids in the winter.
larry_b
18 years ago
Hi domeman,

We are talking about the same plant. Episcia dianthiflora is now Alsobia dianthiflora. Alsobias used to be classified as episcias but have recently been considered their own genus.

So, what conditions do you grow your dianthiflora. Mine can experience temperatures as low as 65Â° at night and up to 80Â° in the middle of the day depending on which time the year it is. I wick water mine and have it under fluorescent lights. It seems to flourish under those conditions.

Larry
larry_b
18 years ago
Hi Holly,

I'm glad that we figured out your plant. A. dianthiflora is not a common gesneriad. At least it isn't common out here in Denver. I have never seen one offered in a nursery before. It is encouraging though. It's nice to see the less common gesneriad's offered to the general public.

I have heard and have experienced A. dianthiflora to be stingy with the blooms. My plant isn't as big as Domeman's. It just started blooming for me a few months ago and I usually get one or two blooms at a time. The sad thing is that the blooms only last a few days. Anyway, even if it doesn't bloom very often I still like the plant for its foliage.

Domeman, how does your plants bloom for you?

Larry
komi
18 years ago
Holly - where on earth is this store? I live in NoVa and rarely see any gesneriads other than AVs, and would love another source :-)
domeman
18 years ago
Larry

I have one mature plant in bright humid greenhouse conditions where I control temperatures so that night time temps do not drop below 50F in winter. Daytime temps in summer however regularly exceeds 90F.

I have another in a inside/low light/airconditioned/low humidity where the temperature remains at around 70. This plant also thrives but flowing is poor. Even when they are not flowering they are attractive as a hanging pot. The 8" pot disappears in a mound of green.

They are so easy to grow vegetatively that I haven't bothered with seed. However I harvested some seed a few days ago and to try this as well.