Now no one knows why this plant received the female name Emilia. It is possible that there was a romantic story here. Or maybe this name was given only because in translation from Latin it means "trying not to give in, zealous." After all, the natural conditions in the homeland of Emilia, with periods of drought and rainy seasons, really require stamina.
The plant was described in 1839 by Scottish botanist George Don (1798 - 1856), who collected plant samples in Brazil, Western India and Sierra Leone for the English Royal Horticultural Society. Since then, the plant has been cultivated in European gardens.
Rod emilia (Emilia) aster family (Asteraceae) includes about 120 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants. These are plants of the Old World, about 50 of them are found in Africa, the rest in Asia. Some species have naturalized in North and South America, in the Pacific Islands. Usually these are weeds that abound on roadsides, wastelands, fields, often in dry conditions, rising in the mountains to an altitude of 2000 m above sea level.
Emilia is bright red, or fiery red (Emilia coccinea) comes from the countries of East and South Africa, brought to the American continent (Florida, California, Arkansas).
She is the largest-flowered and brightest of all members of the genus, and therefore has won her place in flower beds in tropical, subtropical and temperate zones around the world. By nature, this is a perennial plant, wintering at temperatures not lower than + 7 ° C, in temperate climates it is grown as an annual.
Under natural conditions, emilia is bright red - a rather tall plant - 1-1.2 m tall, with thin, leafy stems bearing small (1-1.5 cm in diameter) baskets of bright color - red, orange or yellow. Baskets consist of tubular flowers, the narrow lobes of which form an inflorescence similar to a soft tassel. For this similarity, the plant received the common names Tassel flower, Cupid's paintbrush.
In culture, more compact forms with a height of 45-60 cm are usually grown. The leaves of the plant are mainly concentrated on the stems in the root zone, alternate, short petiolate, rather large, oblong-elliptical, softly pubescent on both sides and therefore slightly bluish, especially from below. Stem leaves are sessile, stalk-embracing, from spear-shaped they come to naught to narrow, lanceolate, and rather rare. Baskets are located on stems 1-6 in scutes. After flowering, small achenes are tied, the ripening of which is indicated by the tuft of thin white bristles protruding from the wrapper of the inflorescence.
Emilia blooms by mid-June and blooms profusely and continuously until frost. Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and ripening achenes attract birds.
The most commonly grown variety is "Scarlet Magic" with bright green leaves and scarlet-red baskets. You can buy seeds of a similar variety "Fire Salute" from us.
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Growing
Emilia is easy to grow from seed. Seedlings are sown on seedlings in early April, only slightly covered with soil, germinated at + 18 + 22 ° C. Seeds sprout from 7 to 18 days. Seedlings with one or two true leaves are dived into separate containers. They are planted in open ground after the last frost.
If you did not manage to grow seedlings, sow the seeds in May directly into the open ground, cover with a non-woven covering material. Protect seedlings from frost. Thin them as early as possible at a distance of 15 cm.
For good flowering, emilia needs an open, sunny, drained place. The optimum soil acidity for it is from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline (pH 6.1-7.8). It will grow on poor soils (suitable for sandy and sandy loam), but on fertilized soils it forms much more lush rosettes of leaves and more stems, on which up to 50 baskets can bloom at the same time!
But for this, the plant needs feeding. A week after thinning, a complex mineral fertilizer is applied, and before budding, they are re-fed.
Emilia is very undemanding in care - it is drought-resistant, it does without watering. It is necessary to save the plant except from slugs, other pests or diseases on it.
Usage
Emilia is often spoken of as an exotic plant. However, the botanist will not find anything exotic in it, except for the fiery colors of hot, hot Africa. Very much it resembles with its inflorescences - brushes, enclosed in a wrapper, our local aster weeds (sow thistle, thistle). And her closest relatives are the groundwort and the underripe (cocoa).
But let's not belittle the plant, which can become a real highlight of the garden! Emilia brushes add a bold, hot touch to a garden palette. Thin peduncles are not at all visible from afar, and its fluffy inflorescences seem to float in the air. They look very impressive in a Moorish lawn or mixborder against a background of cereals. They harmonize well with yarrow, including ptarmica yarrow.
This is an unassuming and long-flowering plant for rabatki, in which it is good to combine emilia with annuals with wide foliage. It shines brightly against the greenery of the kochia. Due to its low height, it is suitable for curbs that are completely covered with soft "pompoms". In mass, this plant looks the most attractive.
Compactness, unpretentiousness and drought resistance make emilia suitable for growing in garden pots and on balconies. Only in this case it is necessary to feed more often.
Emilia's cut baskets are an unusual "passionate" addition to a bouquet of summer flowers. There is one nuance here - the cuttings of the stems must be dipped in hot water for a short time or burned so that the milky juice leaves, and only then used for compositions. The cut can also be dried for winter bouquets by hanging with the heads down.
In Africa, the homeland of the plant, during the rainy season, there is an active collection of emilia, and local markets are full of bunches of its greenery. Young foliage, fresh and boiled, is used for food in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi. Africans eat it mainly as an addition to rice, combined with legumes and coconut milk. But as a vegetable crop, emilia is of local importance, it does not have high taste qualities.
Eating emilia greens is probably more related to its medicinal properties. It helps Africans to save themselves from diarrhea, has antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect. It is used to treat some childhood illnesses. The leaves and roots of the plant contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides. Now the plant is being actively studied, new, anxiolytic and sedative properties have been discovered.
If you get hurt in the garden, you can safely apply crushed emilia leaves to the wound. African experience says it is an excellent wound healing agent.
