2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Andromeda (lat. Andromeda) - undersized evergreen shrub from the Heather family. Another name is whitewash. However, the andromeda also has a number of other names - consumptive grass, white-leaved grass, drunken grass, wild rosemary, swamp, drunken bog, barren, tundritsa and barren bush.
Description
Andromeda is a drought-resistant woody plant, or to be more precise, a very attractive flowering undersized shrub. Typically, adult plants are between fifteen and sixty centimeters tall.
Long rhizomes of andromeda have a cord-like appearance and are common to a great number of aerial shoots. Moreover, this plant is characterized by mycorrhiza, that is, a mutually beneficial symbiosis of plant roots with fungal mycelium.
The leaves of the andromeda are always lanceolate-elongated and shiny, with the edges curling downward. Above, they are usually dark green, and below the leaves from the wax bloom become dull white.
The flowers of this plant are invariably small and bell-shaped. As for the color of these drooping flowers, it can be white, as well as light pink or even deep pink or dark red. As a rule, the flowering period covers the time period from April to June, in addition, in some cases, this plant can bloom again - already in the fall!
Ripening of andromeda fruits usually occurs in August and September. These fruits look like five-celled capsules, characterized by a spherical-flattened shape and opening along the backs of the carpels that form them.
Where grows
Most often, andromeda can be seen in the tundra or forest zones, in North America and Eurasia. This plant is especially abundant in moist coniferous forests and peat bogs. Andromeda growing in the mountains is endowed with the ability to climb up to the lowest strip of the alpine belt!
Usage
Andromeda is widely used in ornamental gardening - it will be an excellent decoration for almost any site! Andromeda will look especially good in rock gardens, where it is most often combined with many other representatives of the large Heather family.
Andromeda also gives honey, however, this honey is completely unsuitable for human consumption. Do not forget that, in general, this plant is generally poisonous - its flowers with leaves are literally replete with the glycoside andromedotoxin, so caution when handling this amazing plant will never hurt! Nevertheless, andromeda leaves are quite successfully used in folk medicine for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, rheumatism and a number of gynecological ailments.
Andromeda is also used to obtain dyes - the leaves and shoots of this plant are very rich in tannin that dyes the tissue black.
Growing and caring
It is best to plant andromeda in bright areas, however, slight shading will also be quite acceptable. As for soil conditions, andromeda is moderately demanding for them - medium-light or light, slightly acidic or acidic, well-moistened and properly drained soils will be ideal for it. In addition, regular peat mulching will be very useful for this plant.
As for the reproduction of this beauty, it is usually carried out using seeds or apical cuttings. By the way, andromeda grows extremely slowly - as a rule, its annual growth almost never exceeds the mark of three centimeters!
