Tigridia

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

Tigridia (lat. Tigridia) - genus of bulbous perennial plants

Iris family (lat. Iridaceae) … The genus has more than five dozen species. Plants are native to the American tropics, which made Tigridia thermophilic and enjoying the sun. Plants of the genus avoid shady places. Fabulously beautiful flowers adorn the world for only eight earthly hours. Their short life is made up for by group plantings of plants, when one flower is replaced by another flower, which is not inferior to the picturesqueness of its predecessor. American Indians supplemented their diet with baked Tigridia corms.

What's in your name

The genus of bulbous plants owes its Latin name "Tigridia" to its spectacular flowers, the inner petals of which nature has painted brightly and motley, making them look like the spotted skin of a dangerous wild predator - a tiger. After all, the Latin word "Tigris" is equivalent to the Russian one - "tiger".

Description

Plants of the genus Tigridia are photophilous and thermophilic, since their homeland is the tropics of Central and South America. Perennial plants of the genus are based on an underground corm, the roots of which go deep into the soil, and leaves and flower stalks rise to the surface of the earth. During the growing cycle, the corm is completely depleted, giving up its nutrients to the aerial parts of the plant, and also forming baby bulbs.

The height of plants of the genus Tigridia, depending on environmental conditions, ranges from thirty to seventy centimeters. On the surface of the ground, the bulb releases xiphoid leaves of a light green color, the surface of which is folded and outwardly very attractive, similar to the leaves of plants of the Iris family.

As for the flowers of plants of the genus Tigridia, they have a unique appearance, different from the flowers of their relatives in the Iris family. Their petals are divided into external and internal. The surface of the outer petals, as a rule, has a uniform color, characterized by a rich variety: from pure white to pink, red, purple. The inner petals are variegated, of two or three contrasting shades. The flowers are quite large and fabulously spectacular. Unfortunately, the lifespan of such amazing beauty is eight to ten hours. However, one bulb reveals to the world four or five peduncles, and if you plant several plants nearby, then wonderful flowers will decorate the flower bed for a month or a month and a half. Insects are engaged in pollination of bisexual flowers.

The culmination of the growing cycle is oblong fruits with angular seeds hidden inside. The seeds give very good shoots, and therefore, in a favorable climate, plants of the genus Tigridia can be easily propagated by sowing seeds. In areas that are not generous for a long warm period, plants are grown either through seedlings or using full-fledged corms.

Usage

The flowers of plants of the genus Tigridia easily conquer with their short-lived beauty any person who knows how to admire and marvel at the wonders of the flora of our planet. In countries with warm tropical climates, they are very popular for decorating flower gardens. In the conditions of central Russia, their popularity is growing from year to year. The most common in decorative floriculture is the species, the name of which is "Tigridia peacock", which in Latin sounds like "Tigridia pavonia". Plants love a sunny place, sandy-loose soil, do not like stagnant water and cold winds.

American Indians in pre-Columbian times used Tigridia corms in their diet. To rid the onions of the bitter taste in their raw state, they baked them on the coals of a fire, after which the bulbs took on the taste of sweet potatoes. Plants were also used for healing.