Kandyk

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Kandyk (lat. Erythronium) - a flowering perennial from the Liliaceae family. Other names are erythronium or dog tooth.

Description

Kandyk is an ephemeral plant endowed with low peduncles (as a rule, their length ranges from ten to twenty centimeters), bearing lonely drooping flowers. And sometimes the height of this plant can reach sixty centimeters.

At the base of each stem, there are two petiolate opposite leaves. They can have both an elongated-lanceolate and ovoid-lanceolate shape, as well as be both monochromatic and mottled with many brownish specks.

The drooping flowers of the kandyk are equipped with rather large perianths. Each perianth is formed by six leaves - near the bases, these leaves are bell-shaped, close together, and a little higher they begin to diverge and bend outward. In length, the tepals reach from eighteen to twenty millimeters, and their color can be white, yellow or pink-purple. Kandyk usually blooms in late April or early May. And its fruits look like obovate capsules filled with a small amount of seeds.

Almost all varieties of kandyk are usually attributed to early spring crops - already at the beginning of the summer season, their aerial shoots begin to die off slowly.

In total, the genus Kandyk includes about twenty-five species.

Where grows

Kandyk is most common in both subtropical and temperate zones of the vast Northern Hemisphere. Especially often it can be seen in light, rather humid and slightly cool forests, as well as on forest edges or in picturesque alpine meadows (near melting snows).

This plant is found in the mountains of the Caucasus and Europe, as well as in the North American mountainous regions. It is quite possible to see it in Manchuria, Japan or the southern part of Siberia.

Usage

More than half of the varieties of kandyk are widely used in culture. This plant looks perfect in natural-style parks and gardens.

Kandyk has proven itself in rockeries, in mixed flower beds in the shade of trees and on heather hills. And the best partner plants for him will be all kinds of early flowering crops: corms or bulbs.

Growing and caring

The best place for planting a kandyk is considered to be semi-shady and fairly cool areas located under the crowns of all kinds of deciduous trees. This handsome man grows especially well on moist peaty soils characterized by an acid reaction, not subject to spring stagnation of moisture. As a rule, a kandyk grows well in one place from four to six years.

It is quite acceptable to place the kandyk on the north side of the house or hedge, or in the partial shade of orchards. At the same time, if the plant will be grown in the immediate vicinity of the house, it is important to try to place it in such a way that the water flowing down from the roof during periods of rains cannot flood the plantings. It is not worth planting kandyk in those places where snow is dropped during the clearing of areas and garden paths in winter.

Kandyk is usually propagated at the end of July or in August by dividing the nests of bulbs. However, do not forget that the dug bulbs can be stored in the air for a maximum of a day.

Some varieties of kandyk (usually those that are not prone to overgrowth) are propagated exclusively by sowing freshly harvested seeds, and these seeds are sown directly into open ground. As for various diseases, Kandyk is very resistant to them.