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The most distinctive feature of this species is the "oyster-shell" leaves on new sprouts from the tuber. The first leaf pair almost completely encloses the second leaf pair and the flowerbuds.
See also the picture of the leaves after they start to open.
| Plant Description | |
|---|---|
| Attribute | Information |
| Growth | Determinate |
| Leaves | Two or three pairs of gray-green leaves with silvery hairs |
| Dormancy | Stem completely deciduous, stumps remain on tuber. |
| Flowering | |
| Attribute | Information |
| Inflorescence | Flowers in terminal cluster. |
| Season | Blooms in spring |
| Flower | orange-red, tubular |
| Horticultural Aspects | |
| Attribute | Information |
| From seed | Five years to bloom, under my conditions |
| Hardiness | Has survived 30F (-1C) in my yard. |
| Recommended? | I don't know. Mine were nice, but hard to keep alive: I eventually lost them all. Take your chances. |
| Botany | |
| Attribute | Information |
| Taxonomic group | The douglasii group of the Dircaea clade. |
There was a lot of confusion for a long time between this species and Sinningia leucotricha. The latter species was grown for many years under the names Rechsteineria canescens and Sinningia canescens.
Sinningia canescens has been much more difficult for me to keep alive. S. leucotricha is very vigorous, but S. canescens has always struggled under my conditions. At the moment [August 2007], I do not have any plants of this species. My last one failed to come out of dormancy in 2006.
Sooner or later, I will tackle it again.
As Gesnera canescens, by Martius, in 1829. Hans Wiehler moved this species to Sinningia in 1975.
Etymology: Latin canescens, gerund of canesco ("grow white or grey").
Ron Myhr's Gesneriad Reference Web has a picture showing S. leucotricha and S. canescens side by side. The picture was taken in Geneva, at the growing facility of Alain Chautems.