What's in Bloom
Bloom Highlights
Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis
Buddha’s Hand
This plant grows in subtropical forests from the western Himalayas of India through Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It grows as a small tree with irregular stems covered in ashy light tan bark that produce long, dark green, thorny branches. The branches produce leaves oppositely and alternately. The pale green leaves are large, fragrant when crushed, and oblong to elliptic with serrate margins. Flowers are produced in clusters at the ends of young branches. Flowers have five white petals and 30 to 50 stamens around four to five fleshy styles. After the flower falls off, the fruit begins to ripen. As it ripens, the fruit turns a pale yellow and produces many finger-like appendages that contain all pith and little to no pulp. The genus name is the Latin name for this plant. The specific epithet denotes that the plant is considered medicinal. The variety name comes from the Greek words sarkódis meaning “fleshy” and dáchtylo meaning “finger” referring to the appendages the fruit produces.
Cyclamen persicum Halios® ‘Select Flame Mix Silverleaf’
Halios® Select Flame Mix Silverleaf Cyclamen
Native to coastal Mediterranean regions, this plant is commonly found on rocky hillsides and in open woodlands and shrublands. The fleshy stems grow out and up from the crown of the plant, giving the plant a mounding habit. The showy leaves are dark green and variegated with silvery patterns with purple tinged undersides. The leaves range from 1 to 5.5 inches and are cordate in shape with serrate margins. When the plant matures, it sends out erect floral stalks from which a fragrant solitary flower is produced. The flowers generally have five petals that are fused at their base and as the floral stalk nods downward, the petals reflex back to point upward, exposing their minute stamens and style. This cultivar is noted for its variegated white and bright pink petals and its bold silvery variegation patterns on the leaves. The genus name comes from the Greek word kýklos meaning “circle,” referring to the shape of the plant’s tuber. The specific epithet means “from Persia.”
Kleinia leptophylla
Kleinia Aster
This plant is native to Ethiopia and Kenya, where it is found in the savannahs and on rocky hills. It grows as a loose, mounded habit with its stems trailing or leaning on other lower stems before growing erect. Its bright green stems are sub-succulent and stripped with dark green veins. The young leaves are bright green before darkening as they mature. The leaves are thick, ensiform, and attached directly to the stem without a leaf stalk (sessile). At the terminus of the stems, a capitulum inflorescence of many disk florets is produced. These florets are large, distinct, and hot pink. The curly, pink stigmas extend beyond the tubular corollas while the golden-yellow anthers mostly stay within the fused tube of the corolla. The genus is named for the eighteenth-century German scientist Jacob Theodor Klein, who developed a classification system in opposition to the system developed by Carl Linnaeus. The specific epithet comes Greek words leptós and phúllon meaning “thin” and “leaf” respectively, referring to the shape of the leaves.
Paphiopedilum primulinum
Slipper Orchid
This is a terrestrial orchid that grows on the forest floor in humus-rich soils of the tropical forests on the island of Sumatra. This plant produces robust shoots, each bearing several fleshy leaves. The leaves are variable in shape, from long and narrow to short and round, but they usually have a mottled pattern. From between two leaves, a raceme inflorescence is produced with five to ten flower buds. As the flower blooms, it resupinates, meaning the flower rotates 180 degrees, so the bottom sepal is now on top. The flowers are mainly light green with blushes of white or yellow. The sepals are green and glossy with small, fine hairs. The top two sepals are fused and are hidden behind the labellum. The lateral petals have wavy margins that can cause the petal to twist, with long white hairs extending from the edges. The labellum petal is generally white tipped with yellow and is cupped—giving the appearance of a slipper. The genus name is a compound of Paphos, a city in Cyprus where according to ancient Greek mythology Aphrodite landed when she emerged from the sea, and the Greek word pédilo meaning “sandal.” The specific epithet means “primrose-colored;” primroses are in the genus Primula.
Punica granatum
Pomegranate
Pomegranates grow as shrubs or small trees in the woodlands and limestone plains from the southern Caucus Mountains to northern India. It is believed that they were first domesticated around the year 2500 B.C.E. when cultivated use spread into the Mediterranean region and China. It grows as a small, multistemmed, deciduous tree with a rounded or upright oval habit. The stems are covered with smooth, light grayish brown bark and bare leathery leaves. The glossy leaves are dark green and are lanceolate to oblong in shape. At the ends of the branches, singular or clusters of flowers are produced. These flowers are red and trumpet-shaped with thick, leathery sepals and distinct papery petals that are fused to the inner tube of the calyx and extend beyond the sepals. Once the flower fades, the sepals and anthers persist, and the ovary—which is situated at the base of the calyx tube—swells as the fruit ripens and matures. The fruit is round with a thick, leathery husk that when peeled off reveals hundreds of white seeds. Each of these seeds is encased in bright red, fleshy tissue called an aril. The genus is a truncation of the original Latin name for the fruit malum punicum meaning “Carthaginian apple.” The specific epithet is the Latin word meaning “seeded” or “many-seeded,” referring to the many seeds of the fruit.