Saturday, October 1, 2011

Griffinia liboniana -- Endemic To Brazil

Griffinia liboniana is a beautiful small plant endemic to Brazil in the Atlantic Forest that has striking blue colored flowers rarely found in Amaryllidaceae.  Griffinia contains about twenty one species and several varieties with the most desirable being from the sub-genus Hyline containing  G. gardneriana and G. nocturna which flowers are incredibly short lived but highly fragrant.

Griffinia liboniana
Some species contain the white spots such as G. liboniana as well as a few others, a new species has been found with pink spotting making it quite different from the group, little is known of this new species and only a few have seen pictures but I assure you that it's truly pink!

Griffinia liboniana is free flowering and if well grown can bloom several times a year.  G. liboniana likes a very organic mix that drains fairly well but it's important that the medium is kept moist as the plants can decline quite fast if left to dry for a period of time.  The medium should feel like a well wrung sponge with just a hint of moisture.  Some grow Griffinia species in pure Sphagnum Moss while I grow mine in a Sphagnum/Bark/Perlite mixture at even parts.

Griffinia species grow amongst the forest floor which is littered with plant debris and handles very low light levels making it a prime candidate for houseplant culture.  Sadly Griffinia aren't too common in cultivation but with recent breeding work by Kevin Preuss hopefully this changes in the future.