Useful information

Analallis, or full-time field color

Analallis, or Full-time field color, is one of those plants that grow on the territory of Russia, but are rare. In various Russian regions, he acquired common names for night blindness, smoking glasses, and scratch aid. The latter, of course, points to its medicinal properties, which were once highly prized.

Analallis, or full-time color of the field Scarlet

But in our gardens, as often happens, the full-time field flower came from Europe, where it has long been cultivated as a medicinal and ornamental plant. Since the 16th century, it has been referred to as Bipinella. They got freckles, treated for rabies and melancholy. Pliny spoke of its value in liver complaints. And the name of the genus Anagallis - derived from Greek Anagelaomeaning "to laugh." Dioscorides, who gave this name, believed that the plant eliminates depression that follows liver disease. But now the plant is treated with great caution due to the content of poisonous saponins and cytotoxic cucurbitacins.

Full color field (Anagallis arvensis) - only one of 34 representatives of the genus belonging to the primroses family (Primulaceae). Its range is extensive: the European part of the former USSR, Central Asia, Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, India. Distributed in Africa, Australia and the American continent - everywhere except the tropics. It grows in fields (also called full-time plowed color), on fallow lands, in gardens and vineyards, along the banks of rivers and lakes, on the outskirts of swamps, in floodplains, in meadows, along rocky mountain slopes, along roadsides. Some regard it as a weed, others consider it a decoration of the fields.

 

Botanical description

Analallis, or full-time field color, is an annual or biennial herb up to 30 cm tall, with delicate tetrahedral, slightly winged, simple or branched, outstretched and ascending stems. Leaves sit opposite, sometimes spaced in three, ovate or oblong-ovate, small, 0.8-2 cm long and 0.3-1 cm wide, obtuse at the apex, whole along the edge, slightly deviated, bright green, from below with black dots. Flowers are located singly in leaf axils on pedicels 1.5-2 times larger than leaves, sometimes equal to them. When the fruit ripens, the pedicels bend downward. The calyx of the flower is 3.5 mm long, with lanceolate or lanceolate-linear, sharp, membranous lobes along the edge. Corolla is reddish, blood-red or orange-red, wheel-shaped, 0.5 cm in diameter, with a five-part limb almost to the base, its lobes are ovoid, obtuse, thinly glandular-ciliate along the edge. The flower petals are surrounded by 5 stamens, each of which is equipped with purple hairs that serve to attract insects (flowers have no smell and nectar). However, pollinators cannot be fooled, and only flies come across this trick. The fruit is a polyspermous spherical capsule 3.5-4 mm in diameter, filmy, cracking across - it seems to open a lid. Seeds are dark brown, triangular, small, up to 0.8 mm.

Analallis, or full-time color of the field Scarlet

On fine days, the flowers open at 8-9 and close until 15 o'clock, and in inclement weather they quickly fold. For this feature, Anagallis field acquired the English names Shepherd's clock, Poorman's barometer, etc.

There are several natural varieties:

  • Anagallisarvensis ssp. arvensis - more common, flowers correspond to the description given above;
  • Anagallis arvensiscaerulea (syn. Anagallisarvensis ssp. arvensis f. azurea) - more rare in nature, but grown more often, it is distinguished by a bright blue color of flowers, blooms earlier than the red form;
  • Anagallisarvensis var. carnea - peach-colored flowers;
  • Anagallis arvensis var. lilacina - lilac flowers;
  • Anagallis arvensis var. pallida - low growing plant with white flowers.

The blue form is most common on the southern coast of Spain, while in the rest of Europe only the red one is found.The common name of the plant in Spain - jabonera ("soapy grass"), indicates the high content of saponins that form "soapy foam" in water.

For the sake of fairness, it should be said that the full-time color blue is rarely found in the UK and in Central Europe. It began to appear in Pakistan and India, but it is indicated that in Pakistan the blue color of flowers disappears over time and is replaced by white-pink. Sporadically, specimens with multi-colored flowers are found in nature.

At one time, the Briton Henslow discovered that the offspring of the blue form contained both red and blue plants. And Darwin, pollinating red and blue forms, received red, blue and some intermediate colors. Botanist Gerard has suggested that the red form is a male plant and the blue is a female. But this is not the case, since the flowers of the plant are known to be self-pollinated.

Growing

Location... Field anagallis is a native of our latitudes, it is quite cold-resistant in our climate, but loves the sun, like a southerner. Only in the middle of the day is some shading useful, since the plant is delicate, does not tolerate drought and lack of moisture.

The soil... Analallis loves soils containing sand and lime. Grows well in the pH range of 6.0-7.8. The soil should be loose, light, drained - the color does not tolerate stagnation of water. You should not strive for high soil fertility, anagallis prefers moderately rich. It is better to prepare a place for a plant in the fall, adding dolomite flour for digging to deoxidize the soil.

Watering necessary regular, but not redundant. Drought should not be tolerated either.

Care... Plants should be weeded carefully and it is better to wear gloves. skin contact may cause dermatitis.

Analallis, or full-time color of the field Scarlet

 

Reproduction

Full color is grown as an annual and propagated by seeds through seedlings. Small seeds of the plant are sown in early spring, in early April, to the depth of the seed size, i.e. only slightly covered with soil. Seedlings usually appear in 1-1.5 weeks. If this does not happen, the tray with the crops is placed in the refrigerator for a period of at least 4 weeks to undergo stratification (the seeds of the plant are in deep dormancy, which cold treatment helps to interrupt). Then the crops are again exposed for germination. Germination can sometimes be very difficult and last for months, so take your time to compost your crops in case of failure.

It has been established that seeds ripened in a warm climate, at a temperature of + 25 ... + 30 ° C, germinate easily, while seeds collected in the temperate zone germinate more difficult.

In late May - early June, the seedlings are planted in open ground at a distance of 40-50 cm. And at the end of June - early July, the plants will be ready to bloom. Anagallis blooms for a long time, until the end of August.

Usage

Field analallis has three main advantages - unpretentiousness (you only have to follow watering), long flowering in the second half of summer (when there are much fewer flowering plants in the garden than in spring and early summer), as well as its sprawling habit, which allows it to be used in a variety of ways. ...

Full bloom can be planted in curbs, in rocky gardens next to other calciphiles, on retaining walls and in gravel gardens. It looks like a ground cover plant, it grows in breadth up to half a meter, while remaining no higher than 20 cm.

Cascading stems of the plant look very impressive in containers, flowerpots, hanging pots. Only water more often in this case. Or add Hydrogel to the soil when planting, which will retain moisture longer.

Based on the toxicity of the plant, you should not place it near paths and playgrounds. But between perennials and shrubs, especially susceptible to pests, it is very useful - there is an opinion that, thanks to essential oils, the plant has insecticidal properties and repels many insects.

In general, this plant, which has medium-sized flowers, brings naturalness and naturalness to the garden. And a minimum of care allows you to admire it more often than take care of it.

$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found