Sinningia valsuganensis

A tall, somewhat hairy species.

Buds
Coming out of dormancy
Feature table
External link
Publication and etymology

This species resembles a taller, less hairy version of S. araneosa. Both species are a little tricky horticulturally.

I grew this species from seed in the late 1990s, keeping it indoors for a few years. It flowered at least two years. Then one year it did not come back.

In June 2011, I sowed seed from Brazil Plants, and got flowers in 2013. These pictures are of a plant from the 2011 sowing.

The growth pattern and flowers are similar to Sinningia araneosa, with a much smaller dose of the latter's attractive silvery hairs on the foliage.

The flowerbuds have hairy and curly calyx lobes.

As seen in the picture at the top of the page, the flowers are hairy and have faint markings.

Under my conditions, this plant emerges from dormancy in May, well after most other sinningias are growing actively and, in some cases, blooming.

The tuber is below the soil and not visible during dormancy.

My plant is somewhat yellowish when it has just sprouted, but the leaves green up after a few weeks.

This plant, in a six-inch pot, sat out in the rain all winter (2018-2019). The picture was taken on 27 May 2019.

Feature table for Sinningia valsuganensis

Plant Description
Growth	Indeterminate
Habit	Arching stem(s)
Leaves	Green, hairy, sometimes faintly sticky
Dormancy	Stems fully deciduous. Dormancy is obligate.
Flowering
Inflorescence	extended axis
Season	Summer
Flower	Red, tubular, about 4 cm long. As in the case of S. araneosa, the two upper lobes of the corolla project further forward than the bottom three lobes do.
Horticultural aspects
Hardiness	Came back in 2014 after a winter with a low of 28-30 F.
Recommended?	Not much. It is not as attractive as Sinningia araneosa, but easier to keep alive.
Botany
Taxonomic group	First core group of the Corytholoma clade.
Hybridization	To the best of my knowledge, no hybrids have been made with this species.

Publication

Chautems, 1991.

Etymology: valsugana + -ensis ("resident of").

The name refers to the place where this species was found: "Valsugana Velha", in the State of Espírito Santo, near the city of Santa Teresa, in an area of mixed vegetation, including coffee plantations and remnants of forest with some small rocky outcrops [Alain Chautems, personal communication].

External Link

See information on the valsuganensis page of Mauro Peixoto's web site.