The indoor flower Crossandra belongs to the Acanthus family. It is a deciduous shrub about a meter high. The name of the flower consists of two parts, which are translated from Greek as "krossos" and "male" ("andr"), it probably reflects the physiological feature of the plant - the presence of the fringe of its stamens.
At home, in India and on the island of Sri Lanka, Crossandra is very popular, as traditionally, along with jasmine, is used by women to decorate hair when visiting the temples. In Europe, the plant first appeared in 1817, but at first it was of no particular interest to the flower growers. It was believed that the plant is very whimsical and requires constant high humidity and temperature, therefore it is not suitable for indoor floriculture and can only be grown in greenhouses.
Attitude to the flower changed after 1950, when the first hybrid of a plant called "Mona Wallhead" was created in Sweden. It differed from the natural species by much more endurance, unpretentiousness and compactness, which allowed it to grow in pot culture.
As a houseplant, Crossandra of this and other modern varieties is distinguished by the simplicity of care and long continuous flowering, has decorative bright foliage and small sizes, multiplies easily by apical cuttings, starts to blossom a few months after planting.
The listed advantages make it more popular among amateur growers and stimulate scientists to create new varieties.
Photos are original and made by Canon EOS 550D.
