Aspidistra’s home flower, like asparagus, is one of the most unassuming. It can tolerate the lack of bright lighting and is undemanding to temperature conditions. If the plant is happy with everything, the aspidistra will thank you with flowering, however, this happens infrequently at home. The main advantage of the culture is the clustered lanceolate leaves on thin, high petioles.
Aspidistra (Aspidistra) belongs to the Liliaceae family. Homeland – China, Japan.
The genus combines species with basal leathery leaves located on a creeping rhizome. In nature, there are 8 species distributed in East Asia.
A perennial herbaceous plant, an old species that has been tested for more than two centuries, has perfectly taken root in rooms that differ in lighting, temperature conditions, and humidity.
It feels good even with strong shading, and on illuminated windows, and in the corners of rooms, in warm and cool rooms – it decorates everywhere with its beautiful broad-lanceolate leaves on long petioles, giving the home a cozy look.
Popularly known as “friendly family”, “family happiness”, “pike tail” or “mother-in-law’s tongue”.
What does the “friendly family” aspidistra look like and how does it bloom
Aspidistra is an ornamental evergreen stemless plant. More precisely, this plant has a stem, only creeping, in the form of a rhizome lying on the surface of the earth. Usually they do not notice it and try to cover it with earth.
The people call the aspidistra “friendly family” because of the large number of leaves and their close arrangement. The leaves are large, dark green, harsh, leathery, broadly lanceolate, on a thin long petiole. In aspidistra, they look like lily of the valley leaves, only much larger.
Some believe that this plant never blooms. But she has flowers. Flowers appear in the middle of winter on rhizomes that are not covered with earth. The flowers are sessile, with a brown-violet hard six-parted perianth, having six or eight stamens and a pistil with a stigma in the form of a rosette.
See how aspidistra blooms at home:
The flowers look like some kind of scales on the rhizome. What strange flowers! They cannot be pollinated either by the wind or by flying insects. Will insects see such flowers somewhere on the ground, between the leaves, especially since they do not have an attractive smell? Meanwhile, these flowers in nature are pollinated by insects, only by insects crawling on the ground, as well as by slugs.
If we transfer pollen from one flower to the stigma of another, we can get a berry the size of a pigeon’s egg, but pear-shaped.
The “friendly family” has two Latin names: the old one is plectogina, and the new, more correct, aspidistra elatior (Aspidistra elatior).
What might this name mean? The translation is somewhat strange – snakes (Aspidis), display (tra), towering (elatior).
The aspidistra flower betrays the presence of poisonous snakes. Apparently, they like to hide in the thickets of this plant and, slightly touching the petioles, cause a noticeable swaying of the leaves.
Somewhat reminiscent of a snake and a gray curved, ringed rhizome of aspidistra.
The common houseplant aspidistra is also related to science. In the notebook of K. A. Timiryazev, who studied the significance of chlorophyll in plants, the description of aspidistra is repeatedly mentioned, with which he made various experiments: with chlorophyll in illuminated and unlit leaves, fading of leaves, the effect of light from a kerosene lamp, and so on.
Aspidistra withstands both cold (but not frost), and poor soil, and insufficient watering; its hard leaves almost do not infect insect parasites and diseases.
This is the hardiest of houseplants. But this does not mean at all that when caring for aspidistra at home, this plant does not need to be given attention. On the contrary, it will grow best if you place it in a wide pot with good soil and repot after one to two years. She responds well to abundant watering and weekly wiping the leaves with a wet cloth.
Sometimes there is a variegated form of aspidistra, with white longitudinal stripes.
The variegated aspidistra should be kept in a sunny window, otherwise it will turn green in the dark.
Again a strange occurrence. All plants are usually pale (etiolated) in the dark and green in the light. Aspidistra is the opposite.
Types of aspidistra: photo and description
Popular types include:
Aspidistra high (A. elatior) with dark green leaves.
A. high ‘Variegata’ (A. elatior ‘Variegata’) with white and yellow striped leaves.
Aspidistra high.
The most common aspidistra elatior (A elatior) is a herbaceous plant with an aerial creeping stem. The leaves are broad, leathery, brown and dark green in color.
As you can see in the photo, this houseplant aspidistra has white and yellow stripes on the leaves:
Flowers appear quite rarely. Blooms in February-April.
Aspidistra variegata.
In room culture, a variety of aspidistra – variegata – is also widely known – with variegated leaves covered with cream stripes, which is cultivated in the same way as the main form. However, with large doses of fertilizers, which are applied in the form of liquid dressings in the summer, or when grown in too nutritious soil, the leaves cease to be variegated.
See photos of different types of aspidistra:
Aspidistra plant care at home
Aspidistra is a plant that feels good at any room temperature, near the light and in the back of the room. Insensitive to dust and careless watering. But if you want it to be a real decoration for you, it must be kept clean. Constantly wash the leaves, water evenly, put in a semi-lit place.
With proper care, aspidistra can bloom annually from October to March.
This is one of the most shade tolerant plants. Grows in both warm and cool environments. Not afraid of dry air. Aspidistra can be placed even in the back of the room or on north-facing windows. In summer, the plant needs a constant supply of fresh air, so you need to take it out to the garden or balcony. In winter, it is desirable to keep aspidistra at a temperature of 14-16 ° C.
The substrate for it is prepared from clay-turf and leaf soil, humus and sand (2: 1: 1: 0.5).
The plant is unpretentious. In the warm season, regular watering, in winter it is significantly reduced. It tolerates interruptions in watering, but reacts very poorly to stagnant water.
In dry air, regular spraying is necessary. In order for the plant to look good, it is recommended to wipe the leaves with a damp soft cloth or sponge.
From March to August, at least once a month, the plant is fed with a complete mineral fertilizer. Variegated aspidistra should not be fertilized, otherwise its leaves will turn green.
Transplantation is rare, only when necessary, since the aspidistra does not tolerate it well. Aspidistra should be planted in a wide, low dish.
Propagation is done by dividing the rhizome in early spring, but each division must have at least two leaves.
Delenki are planted in a mixture of soddy, compost, humus soil and sand in equal parts. Adult plants are recommended to be planted (transshipped) in a soil mixture of soddy, humus soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 1:1:1:1. The larger the pot, the faster the leaves develop.
The main pests are scale insects and spider mites. The location of the plant in direct sunlight leads to a burn of the leaves, and a lack of nutrients leads to shortening of their petioles.
The plant can be used for landscaping workshops, plants, factories, as it easily tolerates fluctuations in temperature, dust, gas. It is indispensable for landscaping semi-dark rooms, stairs, corridors.
Aspidistra is a complete medicinal plant. With its help, diseases such as inflammation of the appendages, cystitis are treated. Helps with the healing of wounds, cuts, scratches, stops bleeding well.
The video “Content of Aspidistra” shows how to care for this plant: