Name given in honor of Baron Clas Alstroemer, Swedish botanist and friend of Linnaeus. The genus includes tuberose of South America, especially Chile and Peru, rustic, which require the only shelter in case of strong frost. Very useful for the garden, have leaves of various shapes, erect flowering stems that bring flowers of various colors, long enough and can also be used cut.
Alstroemeria aurantiaca. Numerous horticultural varieties of this kind are very decorative for the garden; in them the color of the perigonium segments can take on the most diverse nuances.
Cultivated species of Alstroemeria:
A. aurantiaca, with orange flowers often streaked with red, var. lutea, yellow; Alstroemeria brasiliensis, one of the most rustic, with yellow and red flowers stained in brown; Alstroemeria chilensis, with red or pink flowers; Alstroemeria ligtu, with lilac or pink flowers streaked in violet; Alstroemeria pelegrina, with individual flowers, lilac streaked in violet, has a var. white, delicate and excellent for cold greenhouse; A. violacea, with large flowers of a brilliant lilac color. Many hybrids and cultivars have been taken from all these and other species.
Cultivation:
the height of all species varies from 70 cm to one meter and makes them particularly suitable for borders and flowery crops; they are very sensitive to transplants and to any damage to the roots, therefore, if they are grown in pots, the utmost caution is necessary for placing them in a dwelling, to avoid damage to the ground bread and consequently to the root system. The same care must be taken in multiplication by the division of the tufts. The soil required must be humid, of vegetable origin; for these plants, the preferable position is the sun or sun in the cooler climates. Reproduction is by seed in autumn, under glass, with fresh seed, since it has no long germination period; the planting must be done with clod and without trying to divide the young plants.
Read also: Alpinia (Zingiberaceae)
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