Useful information

Smilacina cystic - false buy

Mineral brush (Maianthemum racemosum), or smilacina racemosa (Smilacina racemosa)

Having planted smilacin, you will solve the issue of decorating shady places in the garden for a long time. This plant is durable, will grow, gradually spreading, for decades. The foliage is quite large, beautiful, somewhat original - it rises up the stems, dropping the tips. It blooms for a long time, standing out in the shade with white branched panicles, a bit like astilbe inflorescences.

Smilacin is cystic, or racemose (Smilacinaracemosa), long ago attributed to another genus called the meynik cystisty (Maianthemum racemosum), however, it still retains its old name in use. Naturally grows in North America (southern Canada, USA, except for Hawaii) and northern Mexico. Selects coastal areas and ravines with moist, deep, light (sandy or loamy) soil at altitudes up to 2,750 m above sea level.

The plant forms extensive clumps due to sympodially branched, cylindrical rhizomes, which consist of links 30-40 cm long and 0.8-1.4 cm thick, covered with transverse scars, and widespread roots. Each link ends in buds, from which one to four stems develop.

In appearance, the plant resembles most of all a kupena, or Solomon's seal. (Polygonatum), belonging to the same lily of the valley family (see Kupena), because of this, the False Solomon's seal is often called in the homeland. By the way, foreign botanists have recently assigned these plants to the asparagus family on the basis of DNA research.

Stems 30-90 cm tall, simple, not branched, slightly sinuous, glabrous or finely hairy from above. The leaves are arranged on the stem in two rows, alternately 10-15, sessile or short-petiolate, 7-12 cm long, leaf blades are whole, elliptical or oval, 9-17 cm long and 5-8 cm wide, rounded or conical at the base, on apex sharp or drawn into a long tip, light green. Apical inflorescences, paniculate, 70-250-flowered, distinctly branched, pyramidal, bloom from bottom to top. Flowers 3-membered, stellate; six creamy white tepals (petals and sepals look the same) - subtle, 0.5-1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, flowers mainly consist of protruding stamens with swinging anthers, which are comparable in size to staminate filaments. The flowers have a mild delicate scent that attracts bees. Long-lasting flowering begins in late spring. Fruits are spherical or three-lobed berries with a diameter of 4-6 mm, initially green with copper spots, when ripe they are translucent ruby-red, with 1-4 spherical seeds inside, 2.5-4 mm in size. Ripen in late August and early September.

Mineral brush (Maianthemum racemosum), or smilacina racemosa (Smilacina racemosa)

The plant is absolutely winter-hardy (up to -37 degrees), does not require shelter.

Growing smilacin

Pick-up location... It is a durable, self-renewing rhizome plant for shady gardens. Grows well in light shade. Although smilacina also tolerates full shade, it needs sufficient light for good flowering.

The soil... A forest plant, it needs fertile loams or sandy loams with the addition of humus. The acidity of the soil should not exceed neutral (pH up to 6.8), the plant does not tolerate lime.

Watering... Smilacin is demanding on soil and air moisture; in dry periods, it must be watered with sprinkling. To retain moisture, it is useful to mulch the plant with leaf humus or pine litter.

Care... Given the shallow root system, loosen the soil around the plants with care, taking care not to damage the root system.

 

Reproduction of smilacin

Tisty mine (Maianthemum racemosum)

The main way of reproduction of smilacin is vegetative. The division of rhizomes is carried out in autumn or early spring, when sprouts are just beginning to break through from the ground. Division and transplantation is generally painful for the plant, depriving it of flowering for 2 years. Delenki are planted to the same depth, i.e.shallow, and preferably at least 6 plants at a distance of 30-45 cm, then the curtain will look good. One plant is capable of filling a space with a diameter of 60-90 cm in the future.

The seed method of reproduction is also acceptable - sowing is carried out before winter with freshly harvested seeds.

Spring sowing requires a difficult pre-sowing treatment period. Seeds are subjected to four-stage stratification:

  • at + 1 ... + 5 ° (optimum 5 ° C) for 6-10 months for the emergence of roots,
  • warm (+ 21 ° C) for 3 months for their growth,
  • at + 5 ... + 15 ° С (optimum + 10 ° С) for 5-6 months for the development of epicotyl,
  • warm for shoot growth.

Smilacins grown from seeds grow slowly at first, bloom in the 3-4th year. Due to this, the plant, although rhizome, is not aggressive.

Smilacin use

On the American continent, tender young shoots that have not yet blossomed leaves were eaten boiled instead of asparagus. Later, especially after flowering, the stems become fibrous and taste bitter. The Ojibwa Indians ate the rhizomes of this plant. They were pre-soaked in alkaline water overnight to remove bitterness and neutralize strong laxative properties. Medicinal teas were prepared from parts of the plant.

In our conditions, this American introduced, I believe, no one dares to taste. But everyone will surely appreciate the decorative properties. Curtains of smilacin in shady gardens will find a prominent place next to ferns, hosts, tiarella, mountain goats, lungwort, sour, bright aquilegia, magnificent dicentra, wintergreen, week, lily of the valley, and will become a noticeable accent. They develop well in the crowns of trees, giving the garden the appearance of a forest landscape.

Effectively, smilacin leaves (folded in youth, then with a clear parallel venation) look in the borders, giving an interesting texture. Then vertical slender panicles rise above them. In autumn, the leaves acquire pleasant yellow tones, and against their background, the "rubies" of the fruit, which remain on the plant for a long time, burn brightly.

Smilacin is good for planting near ponds and streams, where it is easier to maintain soil and air moisture. If you do not forget about moisture, then you can grow in a container, dropping it in the garden for the winter.

Fragrant panicles provide an excellent cut for bouquets.

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