Description of the features of the beard, advice on cultivation, reproduction and transplantation of succulents, diseases and pests during cultivation, interesting facts, species. The number of succulent plants is very large and varied. Many of them resemble stone roses in their outlines, consider one of these green formations called the Jovibarba.
It belongs to the Tolstyankov family (Crassulaceae), and is often referred to in the literature under the name Jovibarba (analogy of the name in Latin), is very close to Molodil (Sempervivum), since the beard had previously belonged to this genus. Then it was separated into a separate subgenus, on the basis that these plants have a different number of petals in a flower bud and general differences in appearance. Included in this subgenus are only 6 species that grow in the Eastern Alps and the Balkans.
The plant got its name because of the fringe on the petals of flowers, which so reminded the Greeks of Jupiter's beard, as the Latin name for the beard is translated - Jovis - Jupiter, and barba means "beard". The beard is a representative of the bastard with a long life cycle, of the monocorp type (a representative of the flora that can reproduce, bloom or bear fruit only once in a lifetime). Also, as well as rejuvenated, this plant is a succulent (accumulating moisture in its leaves for the period of unforeseen poor growing conditions). It forms compact root rosettes, consisting of sheet plates. In diameter, such a rosette can measure from 2–7 to 12 cm. Their shape can be compressed or relatively loose. In the leaf sinuses, multiple stolons can form; they are rather quickly dying off lateral elongated shoots, with elongated internodes and having underdeveloped leaf plates and axillary buds. They usually develop short-length shoots, bulbs or rosette formations that serve for vegetative propagation.
The leaves of the beard are strongly pointed at the apex, and long cilia bristles are most often run along the edge. The surface is covered with simple or glandular hairs (but there are varieties with bare leaves), the color of the leaf plate varies from green to reddish-brown. The shape of the leaves is rounded at the bottom, there is a flattening at the top, they can grow straight or bent. The flowering stem appears from the center of the leaf rosette. It has a fairly large height. It can grow simple or with few branching, its entire surface is covered with dense and short pubescence with glandular hairs. The buds have petals of red, pink, purple, yellow or white colors. In contrast to the young, the beard has only 5–7 petals in the bud, their color is most often pale yellow with a keel on the back of the petal, its edge is bicolor, consisting of the same glandular hairs as on the leaves. The petals form a bell-shaped corolla. The shape of the flower is actinomorphic - radially symmetric; several longitudinal planes can be drawn through the surface of the flower through the central axis. The flowers are bisexual. The number of stamens is 2 times more than the petals, they are shorter than the corolla.
After flowering, the fruit ripens with 5–7 polyspermous leaflets with a long nose. The rosette gives all its strength to flowering and then dies, but after it numerous offspring remain, only the rosette of the Heuffel beard, which has a certain number of forms and is loved by flower growers, does not perish.
Conditions for growing a beard, watering
- Lighting. Most of all, this succulent loves to bask in the sun, windows facing south, southeast or southwest will do. But if the plant is grown in a room or greenhouse, then it is worth ensuring good air circulation, the difference between day and night temperatures. When grown outdoors, try to find a place with maximum illumination, on the slopes. If the beard does not have enough lighting, then its rosettes become loose, stretch and lose their decorative effect.
- Content temperature. If the beard is grown outdoors, it is not afraid of the heat, and it also tolerates frosts, provided it is covered with snow and without thaws. Indoors, it is worth adhering to the heat indicators within the room, and in winter, a decrease to 10 degrees will be required.
- Air humidity and watering. The plant calmly tolerates dry air of residential premises, but responds very positively to spraying. When grown in open ground, the beard does not need watering, but if it grows on hills, then during a period of increased drought it is worth moistening the soil once a week. With indoor cultivation in spring and summer, moderate moisture is carried out, the plant is not afraid of drought, which cannot be said about an excess of moisture, which can lead to decay of the roots.
- Fertilization for a succulent occurs only during the period of activation of spring growth, but this is not a very necessary procedure, since in nature the beard grows on depleted soils. You can only use cactus or succulent plant food once a month. In the autumn-winter period, you should not load the plant with fertilizers.
- Transplantation and selection of a substrate. If the succulent grows in the open field, then it will not need a transplant. Otherwise, the beard will require a change of the pot and soil, if the leaf rosette has lost its decorative effect or the bush has grown so much that the pot is very small for it. Since the root system is superficial, wide and not deep containers are used, in the bottom of which holes are made to drain excess moisture. A drainage layer is also required - fine crushed stone, gravel, polystyrene or expanded clay. Adult specimens are transplanted every 4-6 years (rarely every 2-3 years). The substrate should be selected from the natural conditions in which the beard grows - it can be sandy, calcareous, clay or rocky soils. They must have good air and water permeability. You can use ready-made soil mixtures for succulents or cacti, or you can create a substrate yourself by mixing leafy soil, sod and coarse sand. You can also add a little small pebbles or expanded clay there.
Reproduction of a beard by your own efforts
You can get a new plant by sowing seeds, daughter rosettes and leaf cuttings.
The easiest way is to separate the beard's “babies” from the mother's socket. Since the lateral stolons are used to form these daughter leaf rosettes, the separation process is very simple. You will need to carefully cut a young outlet from an adult specimen and plant it in a prepared pot with drainage and a moistened substrate. Care for young beards is the same as for other succulents.
When sowing seeds, the time is selected in early spring. The seeds must be kneaded into the soil poured into the seedling container. The substrate is taken light, with good air and moisture permeability. Sand can be added to regular soil or peat soil can be mixed with sand. Seeds should not be embedded in the substrate, but placed evenly over its surface. The container with seedlings is covered with glass or wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a warm lit place for germination (but without direct sunlight). The germination temperature is maintained at about 20 degrees. Seedlings can be expected already 3-5 days from the time of planting. By the middle of summer, it will be necessary to transplant young beards into pots (2-3 pieces in one container) or into a flower bed at a distance of 10 cm from each other. For the winter period, it is recommended to cover the plants with spruce branches or special agrofibre, or to transfer the tufts to unheated greenhouse rooms, since under the snow there is a threat of mice eating leaves.
If reproduction is carried out using a leaf cutting, then the cut leaf will need to be dried for several days in order for the liquid to stop oozing out of it. Next, you will need to land in peat-sandy soil and wrap the planting with a plastic bag (you can put the cuttings under a glass vessel). The rooting temperature is maintained in the range of 16–20 degrees. If reproduction takes place in the summer, then leafy cuttings can be planted directly in open ground, slightly shading from direct sunlight. After the root shoots appear on the leaves, they can be transplanted 2-3 pieces into one container with drainage at the bottom and suitable soil.
Difficulties in plant cultivation
Basically, problems arise with the plant when the substrate is flooded with water. If the beard is grown in the open field, then during the winter thaws, the tussocks may dry out.
The leaves are often plagued by slugs that eat them. To combat them, I use the following tools:
- mulch sockets with fresh sawdust;
- use ammonia (in one liter of water, dilute 2 tablespoons of the product and spray the plant with it);
- apply the treatment of the beard with Meta (Thunderstorm), which is scattered along the planting of the succulent rosettes.
Nematodes can also cause harm; to combat these worms, it will be necessary to treat the bush with systemic fungicides. But this method is effective if the lesion has not gone too far, in which case the plant cannot be treated and must be destroyed so as not to endanger other flowers.
Interesting facts about the beard
The leaf plates of the beard, as well as the leaves of the young, contain a large amount of malic and other organic acids. The plant (its fresh aerial part) is very actively used in folk medicine. Among the people, the beard bore the names - lobe, hare cabbage or rejuvenated shoots. It was taken orally for heart failure, and the plant was also famous for its wound-healing effect.
The beard species (Jovibarba globifera) has long been used in villages as a cosmetic product. To keep the skin of the face fresh and ruddy, and also so that there is no trace of freckles or spots on the face, the girls washed themselves with succulent juice.
Beard species
- Allion's beard (Jovibarba allionii). Opened in 1963. The native habitat is the territory of Central and Southern Europe, namely the Southern Alps. A perennial plant with a herbaceous form of growth, with a large number forms tufts, composed of multiple basal leaf rosettes. The rosettes have a diameter of 2–3 cm, dense, almost spherical. The leaf blades are lanceolate, fleshy. They have a crescent-shaped bend towards the top, are painted in yellowish-green tones, often with a top tinted in a reddish color scheme. Scattered pubescence occurs over the entire surface of the leaf, and long hairs adorn the edge. Short stolons are formed in the leaf axils of the rosettes, forming spherical rosettes. The length of the peduncle reaches 10-15 cm, it also has pubescence with glandular hairs, with multiple straight leaves. The inflorescence is rather dense, with a small number of buds, flattened corymbose. Pubescence is also present on sepals with small hairs. The petals of the buds are straight, with a fringed edge, the color is greenish-whitish. The flowering process occurs at the beginning of summer.
- Hairy beard (Jovibarba hirta). It is found under the name Rough beard or Sempervivum hitrum. The native habitat is in the mountainous regions of Europe, which include the Alps, Balkans and Carpathians. It is endemic (a plant that grows in only one region on the planet). Climbs when settling to a height of 500-1900 meters above sea level. Leaf rosettes reach a diameter of 2–5 cm, with a height of 20–30 cm. Numerous rounded “babies” grow nearby, which are easily separated from the mother plant. The leaves are mostly bare. The flower-bearing stems reach a height of 10–20 cm, also possessing a descent with glandular hairs. The flowers have six petals in the corolla, their color is pale yellow or greenish-white, their length reaches 15-18 mm. The stamens are 1/3 shorter than the petals. Fruiting occurs in August-September. When growing, a calcium-rich substrate is required. The plant is often used by landscape designers when decorating alpine slides or rockeries. People use it to decorate graves in cemeteries.
- The wide-bore beard (Jovibarba globifera). In the literature, it is found under the synonym Sempervivum globiferum. He revered Central and Eastern Europe as his native growing areas. Likes to settle in pine forest tracts, on the edges or roadsides, prefers sandy soils in central Russia. The plant is a perennial with a herbaceous form of growth, forming multiple tussocks from basal leaf rosettes, reaching 2-3 cm in diameter. They are rather dense, spherical in shape. The size of the leaf plates is 1 cm in length and up to 0.5 cm in width. Their shape is lanceolate, fleshy, with a crescent-shaped bend at the apex. They are also light yellow in color and have a reddish tip. The surface is practically naked, but the margin is pubescent with rigid glandular hairs. Lateral long stolons serve as the beginning of spherical rosettes. The peduncle is measured in length up to 20 cm and is also covered with glandular hairs with numerous leaf blades of straight outlines. The diameter of the inflorescence is 5–7 cm, it is dense with flattened spherical outlines. The petals of the buds are straight, with a fringed edge, painted in greenish-yellow tones. Flowering lasts from July to August and lasts up to 40 days. Numerous rosette "kids", when they touch the plant, easily roll out in different directions.
- Heuffel's beard (Jovibarba heuffelli). Mentioned in literary sources under the synonym Sempervivum heuffelii. Central and Southeastern Europe, namely the Balkans and the Carpathians, are considered to be native growing areas. Perennial herbaceous plant, non-monocarpic, with single basal rosettes or easily separable. The rosettes are loose and open. The leaves are obovate, narrowing towards the base. The plate is fleshy, green in color, grayish-brownish or reddish-green. On the edge there is pubescence with tough whitish hairs. The length of the flowering stem reaches 8–12 cm; it has wide leaves overlapping each other. The inflorescence is dense, flattened corymbose in shape. There are 6-7 petals in a bud, with a fringed edge and a toothed apex. The color of the flowers is yellow or white. Flowering occurs in the summer months. After flowering, the parent socket dies off.
- Scion beard (Jovibarba soboliferum). He mainly likes to settle in pine forests on calcareous soils, as well as on steep river banks. Perennial with pubescent glandular hairs, stems and leaf plates of fleshy shapes and triangular-oblong outlines. Whitish cilia run along the edge of the leaves. Flowers are greenish-yellow, bell-shaped.
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