Distinctive features and characteristics of the plant, tips for caring for gofmania, recommendations for reproduction, diseases and pests, interesting facts, species. Hoffmania belongs to the family Rubiaceae, which combines dicotyledonous plants (in which the embryo has two cotyledons, located opposite each other) and included in the order Gentianales. All of them mostly grow in tropical Mexico, Central and South America. The genus has about 100 species.
The plant got its name thanks to the botanist from Germany G. F. Hoffmann, who lived in 1761-1826. At one time, this scientist was the first to serve as director of the Botanical Garden at Moscow University.
Hoffmania is a meter-high plant with a bushy form of growth. All varieties are appreciated by flower growers for highly decorative leaf plates, which, growing, can reach up to 30 cm in length. Their shape is obovate, the surface is wrinkled, the leaves are fleshy. The general background of the foliage casts an olive-green color scheme, and its intensity directly depends on how the plant is placed in relation to the light source. Young gofmanias have large spots on the leaf plates with a whitish or light pink tone, due to which the decorative effect of the bush increases. However, over time, these spots disappear, but the foliage does not become less beautiful because of this. As the leaves mature, the leaves appear velvety on the surface.
The flowers of this bush are not of particular value, since they are small in size, reaching up to 2 cm in diameter. The shape of their corolla is tubular, with 4 lobes, which have a bend at the top. The color of the petals is beige or reddish, but against the background of the foliage mottled with patterns, they are completely unremarkable. Moreover, when gathering in inflorescences, the flowers have an unsuccessful placement - right on the stems of the gofmania, and because of this they become even more invisible.
After flowering, a small fruit with a spherical or cylindrical shape ripens. Its length rarely exceeds 9 mm. Inside are numerous seeds, brown in color, their surface is grooved or grooved. Dimensions in length reach 6 mm and width up to 4 mm.
Gofmania care tips
- Lighting for the plant. This decorative bush does not expose any special requirements to the level of illumination. It will grow beautifully both in the shade and in a well-lit place, but you do not need to put the pot of gofmania in direct sunlight.
- Content temperature. The plant feels normal at room temperature, namely when the temperature fluctuates between 9-12 degrees. With the arrival of autumn and during the winter months, these rates can be slightly reduced to 15-16 degrees. If the temperature drops are sharp, then this will negatively affect the leaves.
- Watering the gofmania. In the spring-summer period, it is required to moisten the soil in the pot 1-2 times a week, the substrate in the flowerpot should dry out a little, but complete drying should not be allowed, exactly like the soil gulf, otherwise the roots and stem will rot. With the arrival of autumn and winter, watering is slightly reduced. For humidification, only soft water with room heat values is used.
- Fertilizers for gofmania. Since a pronounced dormant period is not observed in the plant, feeding is required constantly. In the spring-summer period, their regularity is 2-3 times a month. For this, complete mineral complexes are used, intended for indoor plants, but always in liquid form. It is advisable to dilute the drug in water before this. In winter, the frequency of feeding is slightly reduced.
- Transplant and selection of soil for a velvety bush. The plant will only need to change the pot and substrate as needed when the gofmania grows strong. The new container should be 4–5 cm larger in diameter than the old one. In the bottom of the pot, holes are made to drain excess moisture, and 2-3 cm of drainage material (expanded clay or small pebbles, you can take broken shards) are laid. This will help prevent liquids from lurking in the flowerpot. The substrate is mixed from fertile soil with the addition of parts of humus, peat soil and river sand (in proportions 2: 2: 0, 5: 0, 5).
In order for the velvety-leaved beauty to feel comfortable, it is required to withstand humidity within 65%. But it is not recommended to spray the foliage due to the pubescence on the leaf plates, therefore, it will be necessary to reduce dryness in other ways:
- Place vessels filled with water next to the bush.
- Use mechanical humidifiers.
- Install the pot with gofmania in a deep tray, in which a layer of drainage material (expanded clay, pebbles or chopped sphagnum moss) is poured onto the bottom and a little water is poured. The bottom of the flowerpot should not touch the edge of the liquid; for this, the container is placed on a saucer.
In winter, it is better to keep the bush away from central heating batteries or heating appliances, otherwise the tops of the leaves will begin to dry out, which will lead to a loss of decorative effect.
Recommendations for breeding gofmania
To get a new bush of a plant with highly decorative velvety foliage, it is required to divide the mother bush or cuttings. If the variety is rosette, then gofmania is propagated using daughter sockets, planting them in a prepared substrate.
When grafting, twigs with 2-3 internodes are cut, about 9-11 cm long. It is recommended to remove the leaves from the lower part and you can treat the cut with a growth stimulator. Then the cuttings are immersed in a pot filled with a moistened sand-peat mixture and covered with a plastic bag or placed under a glass jar. This will create conditions for a mini-greenhouse with high humidity. When germinating, it is necessary to ensure the bottom heating of the soil and the heat indicators should be at the level of 30 degrees. The growing area should be shaded. It is important not to forget to regularly moisten the soil and ventilate the seedlings.
As soon as signs of rooting appear (for example, young leaves begin to form), then you can transplant into large pots 2-3 seedlings with suitable soil for further growth. You should rearrange the pot with young gofmanias in a more illuminated place, but with shelter from direct sunlight.
In the spring, when an adult specimen is transplanted, it is possible to divide its rhizome. For this, a sharpened and disinfected knife is used. The strips should have 2-3 points of growth and not be too small. Then, planting is carried out in prepared pots, at the bottom of which a layer of drainage is laid and a soil suitable for gofmania is poured. Until young plants have taken root thoroughly, they are not placed in a strongly lit place.
Diseases and pests of gofmania
Of the problems that arise when growing this bush with velvety leaves, the following can be distinguished:
- if the soil is not sufficiently moistened or aphids are damaged, the plant begins to wilt;
- when the soil was flooded, the foliage turgor is lost, followed by wilting of the entire bush;
- if the substrate is constantly in a waterlogged state, then rotting of the stem and root system begins;
- with low humidity or irregular watering, the tips of the leaf plates become dry.
With low humidity for a long time, gofmania is affected not only by aphids, but also by spider mites. The leaf plates turn yellow, and a thin cobweb appears on the shoots. As in the presence of the first pest, it is necessary to carry out treatment with insecticidal preparations such as "Aktellika" or "Aktara".
Interesting facts about Hoffmania
All species of the madder family include alkaloids, namely: caffeine, quinine, emetine. Many of these substances can have some therapeutic effect on humans in small doses, but in large doses they are poisonous. Often these substances can depress or excite the nervous system, but others paralyze nerve endings, can expand or narrow blood vessels, while others have the ability to relieve pain.
Types of Hoffmania
- Hoffmania refulgens can be found under the names of Hoffmania reflective or backbeam, as well as Hoffmania reflective. The plant has a bushy form of growth and reaches meters in height, but often only 30-60 cm. Its shoots are upright, strong, juicy and branched, painted in a reddish tone and with slightly pronounced edges. The leaf plates are glossy, glossy, wrinkled, opposite. They reach a length of 7–12 cm in length. Their color is olive-greenish on top, and the leaf is red on the back. Sometimes small umbellate inflorescences with red or light red flowers may appear, starting to grow directly from the stem in the leaf axils. The diameter of the buds in the opening reaches 2.5 cm. The corolla has a bend with 4 lobes.
- Hoffmania ghisbreghtii sometimes referred to as Hoffmania Gisbright. The native areas of growth are in the southern regions of Mexico. The plant is bush-shaped. It has large leaves, painted in a pinkish and whitish tone, although their main color is dark green. The underside casts a purple-red color scheme. The surface of the leaf is velvety. The flowers are star-shaped, the petals are yellow with a red spot. Inflorescences are located along the stems in the leaf axils. It is grown only in a conservatory or greenhouse.
- Hoffmania rezlii is a plant up to 30 cm in height. The native lands of growth are in Central and South America. The stems have tetrahedral contours, fleshy, shaded with a reddish tone, there is pubescence with short brownish hairs. The leaf plates at the top are pointed, at the base they are elongated. They reach 22 cm in length and about 11 cm in width. The surface on the upper side of the leaf is velvety, so this variety is called "velvety". The color is olive green, and the decorative effect gives a reddish-brown overflow, the veins are also beautifully shaded. The dense inflorescence that appears has a racemose shape. The flowers, collected in inflorescences, reach a diameter of 1, 7 cm, the color of the petals is brown-reddish in the center there is a lighter strip. A form with leaves of variegated white color "Variegata" has been bred.
- Hoffmania congesta (Hoffmania congesta). The native habitat is in Costa Rica and Panama.
- Hoffmania equatorial (Hoffmania ecuatoriana). It was described in 1944 and is endemic to Ecuador (a plant that does not grow anywhere else on the planet). This plant was first found in the Rio Pastaza Valley, along a road near the city of Rio Negro. It is a protected species and is grown in the Sangray National Park and also in the Parque Nacional Llanganates. The same endemic representative of the family is the Hoffmania modesta variety growing in Ecuador.
- Hoffmania woodsonii. It is a shrub plant, reaching up to 1.5–3 meters in height. Sometimes its shoots can spread a little. Stipules measure about 1 mm in length, they are triangular, leaf-shaped. The petioles do not exceed 2.58 cm in length. The leaf plates are from lanceolate to elliptical, with a pointed apex. The length of the leaf is measured in 6-18 cm with a width of 3-8 cm. The corolla of the flower reaches 7-8 cm, greenish-yellow. It has 4 blades up to 4 mm long, they are pointed and bent. The fruits are distinguished by ellipsoidal outlines, only 3-4 mm in length, the surface is bare, with fine ribbing, the color is yellow-green. Seeds are multiple, about 0.5 mm long. Bloom is observed from April to August, but mainly during May-July. A month after that, the fruits ripen. It grows in Costa Rica and Panama, at high altitudes.
- Hoffmania excelsa (Hoffmania excelsa). The plant was first described in 1889. Synonyms for the name are Psytrochia excelsa, Hoffmania Mexicana Hemsl., Deppea exce Stendley. Slender, often densely branched shrub, growing to a height of 60–120 cm. The color of the branches is grayish or green. There is a dense glandular pubescence at a young age. The internodes are short or elongated. Stipules grow deltoid and deciduous. Leaves are medium-sized, oppositely located on thin petioles 3–13 mm long. The leaf shape is obovate, elliptical or elliptical-oblong. The size of the leaf is 2–9.5 cm long and up to 0.7–3 cm wide. At the apex there is a sharpening, occasionally obtuse, at the base the plate is blunt or rounded, membranous. The color of the leaves is bright green, below they are paler, no pubescence, glabrous. The corolla of flowers is yellow or reddish in color, its length reaches 7 mm, has a slight pubescence on the outside or inside. Petals are oblong, obtuse or rounded. They usually grow longer than the tubular corolla. Anthers are almost sessile, protruding from the corolla. Ripening berries are red, spherical or oblong, measuring 5-9 mm in length. Seeds placed inside are brown with shallow depressions. The main growth area of this species are moist mountain forests at an altitude of 1000-1500 meters above sea level in Mexico, namely in Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
- Hoffmania arqueonervosa (Hoffmania arqueonervosa). The habitat is the land of Veracruz, Coatepeca, Piedras Blancas, southwest of Rancho Viejo, on the eastern slopes of the extinct volcano Cofre de Perote (Mexico). The plant is a shrub up to 1.5–2 m in height. Stems are erect, with a diameter of 1, 4 cm at the base. The surface of the shoots is fissured and woody. Young branches are succulent, glabrous and shiny, with slight corrugation. The leaf plates are opposite, crowned with a petiole 2, 5–9, 8 cm long and up to 0.8–3 mm thick. The surface of the leaf is bare, sometimes with grooves, corrugated. The shape of the plate is ovoid, elliptical, the dimensions are measured in length 9–17, 2 cm with a width of up to 4, 8–10, 5 cm. The length of racemose inflorescences reaches 2–2, 8 cm with a width of up to 1, 8–2 cm. Peduncles have length 0.7–1.5 cm with thickness up to 0.2 mm. The calyx is 4-part, the lobes are triangular, fleshy, their length is 0.4–11 mm with 0.41 mm in width at the base. The corolla tube grows up to 2-4 mm in length with a width of 1-1, 2 mm. The rim itself does not exceed 7–11 mm in length. Inside, naked, with 3-4 lobes. They have lanceolate shapes with a length of only 4.5–8.2 mm and a width of 2 mm. Their color is yellow or pink. Ripening fruitlets are spherical, with a red or pink tint, cylindrical in shape. Indicators in length 0, 9–1, 7 cm with a width reaching 0, 6–1, 1 cm. Inside there are numerous seeds of irregular shape, brown, reticulate, their length varies within 0, 4–0, 6 mm with a width about 0.3–0.4 mm.
