Sinningia hoehnei

  1. Flower and fruit pedicels
  2. Splash cup
  3. Tuber
  4. Feature table
  5. External link
  6. Publication and etymology
 

This species was known under the temporary holding name of Sinningia sp. "Castelo".

It resembles Sinningia barbata in flower and stem.

Although its Its flowers somewhat resemble those of S. barbata, the L-bend in the corolla is not as pronounced, the mouth of the corolla is more open, and the inside of the corolla is yellow with purple streaks. The lower lobe in particular is pale purple.

Corolla shape is reminiscent of that of Sinningia eumorpha, to which it is not closely related.  The similarity is presumably due to convergent evolution focused on the same pollinator type (a bee).

This species was found at a single location in EspĂ­rito Santo state of Brazil.

 

Under my conditions, the flowers of this species self-pollinate.

Following pollination, the pedicel elongates and the calyx turns to face upward.  The picture shows the result,  The developing fruit is held more or less vertically.

The result is a "splash cup".  The fruit eventually dehisces (breaks open), exposing the seeds to the rain, which should result in the seeds being scattered.

Unusually for the genus Sinningia, the seeds are black.

 

This picture shows the splash cup with the exposed seeds.

 



Tuber

Once the plant went dormant at the end of 2019, it was dug up to find out if it had a tuber. This was the primary, but there were also two secondary tubers.

All the tubers were at least 2 cm below the soil line.

The tubers sprouted normally in the spring of 2020.






Feature table for Sinningia hoehnei

Plant Description

Growth Indeterminate
Habit Stem erect or sprawling, usually unbranched
Leaves Opposite, green
Tuber See above

Flowering

Inflorescence Axillary cyme, 1 flower
Season Autumn
Flower See above

Horticultural aspects

Hardiness No information, but its relative S. barbata does not tolerate freezing temperatures well.

Botany

Taxonomic group Related to S. barbata in the Corytholoma clade.
Pollinator Presumably a bee, judging by corolla shape, color, and markings.
Seeds Black.



External Link

Mauro Peixoto's Brazilian Plants site has a page for this species.

Publication

Chautems et al., 2019.

Etymology: named after Brazilian botanist Frederico Carlos Hoehne (1882-1959), whose illustration of this species under the name Sinningia barbata was published after his death.

Mr. Hoehne published the initial descriptions (see also the chronological table) of four sinningia species (all under the name Rechsteineria):