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Sinningia cardinalis is the most familiar of the "rechsteineria" sinningias. It has been in cultivation for many decades.
It is the archetypal member of the Galea Group, its bright red flowers bearing the characteristic hood formed by the fusion of the upper two corolla lobes.
With S. eumorpha, S. cardinalis was one of the main ingredients of the "xGloxinera" hybrids popular 50 years ago.
S. cardinalis can often get floppy before it blooms, and for that reason has lost popularity as better-behaved members of the Galea Group have been introduced, such as S. iarae and S. hatschbachii. Still, if you want a white galea flower or a peloric member of the group, S. cardinalis is still your only choice. At least, I have not heard of a white S. iarae or a peloric S. glazioviana.
S. cardinalis also seems much more likely than other species to create "calyx doubles", mutants in which one or more calyx lobes have become petal-like and have the same pigmentation as the corolla.
| Plant Description |
|
| Growth | Indeterminate |
| Habit | Stem upright or sprawling (especially when young). |
| Leaves | Green |
| Dormancy | Stems deciduous, but dormancy may be facultative. Some of my plants retain stems through the winter. |
Flowering |
|
| Flowering | Spring, summer |
| Inflorescence | Axillary cyme |
| Flower | Tubular, red or red-orange, with galea |
Horticultural aspects |
|
| From seed | 14 months to bloom, under my conditions |
| Hardiness | Has survived 32F (0C) in my back yard |
| Recommended? | Yes, with reservations. It's been in cultivation a long time, and it blooms easily. However, it is not easy to get a tidy, compact plant. |
Botany |
|
| Taxonomic group | The galea group of the Dircaea clade. |
| Nectaries | One, dorsal, with two lobes. The base of the corolla has paired bulges above the nectaries, presumably to hold nectar. |
Ron Myhr's Gesneriad Reference Web has several pictures, including
Sinningia cardinalis was first published (as a Gesneria) in 1850 by Carl Friedrich Phillip von Martius (1794-1868). H. E. Moore transferred it to Sinningia in 1973.
Etymology: Latin cardinalis ("very important, essential"), from cardo ("hinge, turning point"). Hence, the "cardinal bishops" of the Roman Catholic church, hence the color (from the red hat and robe).