Salpiglossis

Blooms of Salpiglossis sinuata

The trumpet tongues ( Salpiglossis ) are a genus of the nightshade family (Solanaceae ).

Description

Trumpet tongues are annual or perennial herbaceous plants or shrubs that can reach a height of 0.3 to 1 m. The entire plant is provided with a dense, sticky hairs.

The basal leaves form a rosette and sometimes can be up to 4-7 cm long, but sometimes they only reach a length of 0.2 to 1.5 cm. The leaves are ovate -elliptic, oblong- elliptic or linear-elliptical, are sessile or have only short petioles. The leaf margin is entire, sinuate - dentate, fiederlappig or sometimes pinnatifid.

The flowers are single standing or in panicles, almost sessile or on peduncles 1-2 cm located, odorless ( S. sinuata ) or slightly fragrant (p. spinescens ). Usually the flowers are offenblütig, but sometimes they are also closed and self- fertilizing. The calyx is bell-shaped, radial symmetry, and 0.7 to 1 cm long; five-lobed, the lobes equal in length, triangular or oblong. The offenblütigen flowers have a funnel-shaped, cylindrical at the base, zygomorphe crown of 2.3 to 5 cm long, petals flamed, whose edge is slightly notched. The closed flowers have a shortened crown of only 10 to 11 mm in length.

The fruit capsules are elongated ovoid, 9-15 mm long and project beyond the calyx only slightly or even slightly smaller. Inside each fruit usually 50 to 120 seeds, sometimes even up to 300

Chromosomes

The species has a base number of chromosome, p sinuata is tetraploid ().

Occurrence

The genus is endemic to the southern Andes, p spinescens comes as xerophyte in northern Chile before between the Atacama Desert and Coquimbo, S. sinuata can be found between the Tropic of Capricorn and Valdivia.

Cultivation

Since the early 19th century, the trumpet tongues in Europe have been considered as an ornamental plant. Through their showy flowers of various colors, they were quickly known garden plants and are found in the temperate regions of the world.

System

The genus Salpiglossis only consists of the following two ways:

• Trumpet tongue ( Ruiz & Pav Salpiglossis sinuata )
• Salpiglossis spinescens Clos.