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This fine plant of Sinningia leopoldii was exhibited by Bill Price at the Gesneriad Society convention in 2008. Mine never look anywhere near that good.
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Bill presents tubers well, also. This typical "bagel" tuber (disk-shaped, with stems arising from depressed center) is very symmetrical. |
I used to have a dwarf plant of S. leopoldii. The first year it bloomed, it had one flower, and I collected seed from it for the AGGS seed fund. The next year it bloomed, I put pollen of Sinningia sp. "Black Hill" on it, and got the hybrid I named S. 'Distant Lights'. The next year it never came up, and the tuber withered.
I now have another small plant, from Jon Dixon. Jon says that S. leopoldii shoots seem stunted or distorted when they first appear, but when they develop they lose this unhealthy look.
See a comparison between the shoots of S. leopoldii and S. calcaria.
As shown above, Bill Price can grow a beautiful plant of S. leopoldii, but mine are never particularly attractive: a ragged growth habit and few flowers. I get better results from the S. 'Distant Lights' hybrid mentioned above.
| Plant Description |
|
| Growth | Determinate |
| Habit | Upright stem(s) |
| Leaves | |
| Dormancy | Stems completely deciduous. Dormancy does not appear to be obligate, however. In the winter of 2008-2009, my plant kept all its stems and bloomed from one of those year-old stems in June 2009. |
Flowering |
|
| Inflorescence | terminal cluster |
| Season | |
| Flower | Red or orange-red, a narrow tube about 4 cm long |
Horticultural aspects |
|
| From seed | 18 months to bloom, under my conditions |
| Hardiness | The tuber survived near-freezing temperatures in my yard. |
| Recommended? | Not by me. Mine have never thrived, but I have seen handsome plants grown by others. |
Hybridization |
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| Hybrids with this species | See listing. |
Botany |
|
| Taxonomic group | The douglasii group of the Dircaea clade. |
Mauro Peixoto's Brazilian Plants site has a page about S. leopoldii.
(as Gesneria leopoldii) 1852. Transferred to Sinningia by Chautems, 1990.