Indoor gardeners who have filled every window with pots of African violets are now extending their interest to trailing plants belonging to the same gesneriad family.
Five close relatives of this popular house plant can be grown successfully under the same conditions as African Violets and with an even greater decorative effect.
Pendant stems of the trailing type gesneriads that range in length from a few inches to two or three feet, or more, can be hung from the window casings in pots and baskets.
For a more complete effect, they may be draped over the sides of containers perched on the uppermost shelves.
The result is a cascade of attractive foliage at all times and, in season, masses of brilliant flowers.
Five Popular African Violet Relatives
The five most popular African violet relatives growing in hanging baskets are four natives of Central and South America—columnea, episcia, codonanthe, and hypocyrta—and aeschynanthus from Java, Sumatra, and other parts of tropical Asia.
Columnea
Columnea, which has been cultivated in Europe since 1737, longer than the others, varies considerably in its appearance.
Some kinds have long, flexible, trailing stems, and others have stiff, bushy stems. Columnea lepidocaula even grows upright, resembling a small shrub.
Leaves vary from the tiny, round green ones of Columnea microphylla (sometimes called Columnea diminutifolia), which gives a fern-like effect in a hanging basket, to coarse, hairy ones the size of a man’s hand, on some of the upright species.
All columneas have flowers of a striking “dragon’s mouth” form, in rich colors ranging from the pure yellow of Columnea tulae and Columnea verecunda through the several flaming orange varieties to the bright scarlet Columnea hirta.
The most popular and perhaps the easiest to grow is the glorious columnea (Columnea gloriosa), first described in 1911 from material collected in Costa Rica and never found growing wild since that time.
Cultivated material is of two types, one with maroon-colored hairs, which make the velvety oval-shaped leaves look brownish, and the other with green-colored leaves.
Flowers are produced in great profusion from the ails of nearly every leaf of the plants, which bloom two or more times a year.
Two columnea species with small leaves, Columnea arguta (sometimes misspelled arguda) and Columnea alleni got off to a bad start in the United States when the plant labels on imported material were inadvertently exchanged.
Some dealers continue to sell Columnea arguta material under the name of Columnea alleni and the opposite is true, though most conscientious dealers have corrected the error.
To distinguish the two, the leaves of Columnea arguta frequently in three’s, are somewhat lighter in color and have a slim spear point to each leaf, while the opposite leaves, Columnea alleni, in pairs, are rounded to a blunt point.
An unusually vigorous hybrid is Columnea banksii, which has attractive leaves with a waxy sheen.
Extremely tolerant of poor growing conditions, its scarlet flowers, with bright yellow throats, resemble those of the glorious columnea, though they are borne in less profusion. Kept on the dry side, plants will give a more satisfactory display.
Another hybrid of Columnea vedrariensis originated in Mexico about 1918, with C. schiedeana as the seed parent and Columnea Magnifica as the pollen parent.
This is a vigorous plant more adapted to the greenhouse or conservatory than to a windowsill garden, but it can be kept within bounds by frequent pruning and pinching.
Episcia
Nearly 50 different Episcia (Flame Violets) names were listed by United States dealers in their 1956-1957 catalogs.
About half of the popular commercial types are leaf variations of the orange-flowered Episcia cupreata.
Variations in leaf coloration of the lavender-flowered species, Episcia lilacina, was next in popularity, with nine names.
The scarlet flowered Episcia reptans (formerly called Episcia fulgida) and its mottled leaf sport Lady Lou are frequently listed, as is the white-flowered Episcia punctata, with its maroon freckles, and Episcia dianthiflora, with its stylishly “pinked” corolla edges.
Some of the more recent episcia plants to excite the window gardener are the pink-flowered “Wilsoni” hybrids, Pinkiscia and Coral Gables and the pure yellow episcia imported from gardens in Panama, apparently allied to Episcia cupreata, which has received the name Tropical Topaz.
Many growers of episcias have never seen the plants in flower. They are content to grow them for the beautiful foliage alone.
Episcias send out stolons or “runners” like strawberry plants and soon produce a flowing tapestry of striking color and texture in a hanging basket or a pot suspended by chains.
Some of the cultivated varieties’ names suggest the foliage color:
- Silver Sheen
- Emerald Queen
- Frosty
- Jewel Leaf
- Red Corduroy
Dainty Episcia Blooms
The flowers of episcias, while not so freely produced or so large as those of columnea or aeschynanthus, are delightful.
Perhaps the most floriferous is the orange-red flowered Episcia cupreata variegata, which is often in continuous bloom throughout the spring and throughout the entire summer.
The daintily fringed white flowers of Episcia dianthiflora appear later in the season, and the plant continues to flower after the red-flowered types have ceased.
The pale lavender flowers of Episcia lilacina are more difficult to produce on plants grown in the home than the red flowers of the more tolerant species, but the secret seems to be to give the correct amount of light.
The exposure of a window facing north seems to be just about right for the delicately tinted flowers of Episcia lilacina, particularly the varieties having pale green leaves.
Two Specific Needs of Episcia
Two cultural requirements of episcias should be kept in mind.
One is the sensitivity of plants to cold. The other is their requirement for a rest period during which growth lags.
In the case of Episcia punctata, leaves yellow and drops off. The plants need to be kept rather dry during this period, and it has been noted that cuttings taken at this time do not root readily, while production of stolons almost ceases.
Because they are sensitive to cold, the leaves of most episcias are injured when the air temperature drops below 50° degrees Fahrenheit.
Some of the more tender ones, particularly Episcia lilacina derivatives, are injured by air temperatures, which have no visible harmful effect on the red-flowered types.
The white-flowered Episcia dianthiflora seems to be the most cold-hardy of the genus and appears not to have been harmed when the temperature in my greenhouse dropped to 45° degrees Fahrenheit on one occasion.
Adaptable Episcias
Episcias are adaptable and need not be grown solely as trailing plants.
Pinching off the runners as they form on the plant allows a compact growth on top of a four-inch pot, requiring no more window space than an African violet.
More on the Trailing Relatives of African Violets
Codonanthe
Only one codonanthe species is commonly cultivated in the United States, Codonanthe crassifolia.
It makes such a satisfactory basket plant, is so tolerant of indoor growing conditions, and is so attractive, with glossy leaves that are unusual among the gesneriads, that it is bound to become popular as a houseplant.
Home gardeners have found Codonanthe crassifolia to be fairly tolerant of bright sunlight when grown under glass, but it does better in the three-quarter shade.
It is colder resistant than episcia, but not as tolerant as the polytunnels. However, it is very little injured by temperatures as low as 42° to 45° degrees Fahrenheit.
Extremely easy to grow from cuttings, the shiny stems of Codonanthe crassifolia, when grown in a moist atmosphere, produce roots opposite each leaf petiole.
Tip cuttings are readily taken at any season root in any moist, porous rooting medium.
Hypocyrta
Hypocyrta, like codonanthe, constitutes a genus of about 10 or a dozen species, mostly natives of Costa Rica and Guatemala south to Brazil.
The almost triangular shape of the flowers is due to the one-sided inflation of the corolla tube.
The vivid orange flowers of Hypocyrta nummularia, the only species now offered by dealers in the United States, look as if they have been “blown out” on one side.
A hanging basket of Hypocyrta nummularia presents a refined appearance, with its many branching red stems and small, bright green leaves.
The plant blooms in late winter and early spring loses its leaves and goes into a resting period during the summer, only to leaf out and resume vigorous growth in the fall.
Watering should be kept to a minimum during the resting period.
Another curious growth habit of Hypocyrta nummularia is the production of thick nodules in the stems near the tips.
When cut from the plant and potted, these areas root more readily than normal tip cuttings.
However, like all the trailing gesneriads, this plant is easy to multiply by cuttings of almost any part of the plant.
Aeschynanthus: A Curious Name
Two Greek words, aischuno (to be ashamed) and attains (a flower), were combined to name this plant, but its glowing flowers are nothing to be ashamed of, and the lovely trailing plants of aeschynanthus have been admired and cultivated in England for 100 years.
In Java and the Straits Settlements, it seems that aeschynanthus are grown hanging from the eaves of the thatched roofs of houses.
Similarly, these striking plants will glorify any window garden when grown trailing from a hanging basket.
In Europe, however, they are trained upside-down in pots with the two to three-foot long stems supported on a trellis.
Recent catalogs of dealers in the United States show that eight species are obtainable out of the more than 70 which have been described by botanists.
These include the all-time favorites:
- Aeschynanthus lobbianus
- Aeschynanthus Pulcher
- Aeschynanthus marmoratus (sometimes called A. zebrinus).
The yellow-throated, bright crimson flowers of Aeschynanthus Pulcher arise from a bright green calyx tube, and those of Aeschynanthus lobbianus are similar, though they arise from a purple calyx.
The blooms of Aeschynanthus marmoratus are less remarkable than the leaves, which are light green, and striped with yellow bands.
The flowers of the showy aeschynanthus (Aeschynanthus speciosus) are nearly 4” inches long, orange in color, with scarlet markings.
The species Aeschynanthus grandiflorus, from India, has orange-scarlet flowers marked, with black on each corolla lobe, and Aeschynanthus longiflorus resembles Aeschynanthus specious.
However, the color is uniformly scarlet, and the mouth is contracted.
A particularly compact aeschynanthus for pot culture is Aeschynanthus Pranks’s, which has bright red flowers streaked with yellow and a yellow mouth.
44659 by Paul Arnold