The main characteristic features of a flower, recommendations for caring for gusmania, tips for plant propagation, difficulties and ways to overcome them, interesting facts, types. Gusmania (Guzmania) belong to the exotics that are part of the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). This genus includes representatives of the flora, which are evergreen herbaceous plants. The number of such specimens, reaching 215 units, is mainly represented by epiphytes growing on the branches or trunks of trees, they can also "settle" on the soil surface. The lands of South Florida, the West Indies and Central America are considered to be the native habitat of the gusmania, as well as the territories of Venezuela and Brazil. There, these extraordinary representatives of the flora "live" in forests or in the open area of mountain chips. The height of growth can be very diverse, from zero to 2400 meters above sea level.
The plant received its name in honor of the Spanish explorer who studied the flora and fauna of South America, Anastasio Guzman, the years of his life are approximate, since the date of birth is not known, but it is approximately at the beginning of the 18th century, and the date of death is 1807. Also, this scientist was engaged in botany, zoology, pharmaceuticals and devoted a lot of time to travel. The first descriptions of Gusmania date back to 1802.
The fact that a flower can grow on other tree-like plants does not mean that gusmania parasitizes them. It receives nutrients from the substrate that has come from bird droppings, dead insects and dead bark of the host tree. And also from its leaf outlet, in which moisture and the same nutrient substance accumulates. The roots serve rather for fastening, and they are rather poorly developed.
The height of modern varieties of this exotic rarely exceeds 25 cm and is almost the same width - up to 30 cm. A dense or loose rosette is formed from the leaf plates. In length, the leaves of some varieties can stretch up to half a meter in size. The surface of the leaf is glossy; a decorative pattern of stripes may be present against a dark or bright emerald background. The edge of the leaves is whole-edged. The leaves are clearly different in color from the inflorescences, which are formed in the center of the foliage of the rosette by the time the flowering process begins. They have a very bright color and look quite decorative, surrounding the inflorescence.
There are varieties in which the inflorescence is crowned with a long peduncle, but there are also those devoid of it, as if drowned in a socket. The length of the inflorescence is different, it mainly has a spike-shaped or paniculate shape. The number of buds that make up the inflorescence can be either large or small. The flowers are unattractive, their petals are whitish, greenish-yellow or greenish-white. The flowering process occurs when the gusmania reaches 2-3 years of age and it can last up to 3 months, but the flowers themselves stay on the plant for only a few days, namely the brightly colored bracts give the plant such a beautiful appearance. The shade of the bracts is very diverse: yellow, red, purple or pinkish.
It is sad to admit, but this exotic specimen of flora is an annual plant, which unpleasantly surprises novice flower growers. When the inflorescence withers, the leaf rosette dies off. Many of the exotic varieties have long been loved by flower growers and are grown as indoor crops. The most popular variety is considered to be the Luna variety, in which the ear of the inflorescence has a mauve color. It is also noticed that varieties with a bright green tint of leaf blades are more resistant than similar ones with reddish leaves.
How to care for gusmania?
- Lighting. The plant will grow calmly in diffused bright sunlight, intense lighting can lead to leaf burns.
- Content temperature when growing, gusmanias are maintained in the range of 18-24 degrees, and in the autumn-winter period - at least 18-20 degrees.
- Watering. Humidification of gusmania is carried out by pouring water into a leaf funnel, so that the liquid in it is at a level of 2-3 cm. The only condition is the use of rainwater or melt. The soil is watered only if it is completely dry. Waterlogging for this plant will be more destructive than drought. At a temperature of 18 degrees, the water must be drained from the outlet.
- Fertilizers when growing, gusmania is almost never used, only at the beginning of spring it is possible to feed the flower a little with preparations for bromeliads.
- Transplantation and selection of soil. The procedure for changing the pot and substrate is carried out in the spring, immediately after purchase. You will also need to repeat this action annually or as soon as the old pot becomes small. The capacity is selected a little more than before, since in close quarters the plant will bloom faster. In this case, flowering can be expected in 2-3 years, if the daughter formations are not separated, then the gusmania will bloom more luxuriantly. A drainage layer (expanded clay, pebbles or broken shards) is placed on the bottom of a new flowerpot. The substrate is made up of turf soil, river sand, peat soil and humus, in proportions of 2: 1: 1: 1. To make the composition looser, crushed charcoal, bark and needles of coniferous trees are added to it. You can use a ready-made commercial soil mixture for bromeliads or orchids.
This exotic flower, due to the fact that it is an epiphyte in natural conditions, is very effective to grow it on bizarre driftwood, in crushed coconut shells or if there is a piece of cork bark. With this method of placing the gusmania, its roots need to be wrapped with sphagnum moss, and then, using a wire, attached to the selected piece of bark.
Tips for breeding gusmania at home
Most often, when obtaining a new plant, sowing seeds, seeding layering and dividing old outlets are used.
After the cessation of flowering, the gusmania dies off, but this is not such an indisputable fact, it continues to grow after. In this case, it is required to cut off the peduncle, and wait for the "children" to form at the very base of the stem. It is necessary to constantly check for the presence of root processes in these daughter formations. At first, these babies are very small in size, but later they grow up and already acquire the required outlines of adult plants.
They can be grown without separating them from the maternal gusmania, but otherwise, you will have to wait until the children have their own roots of sufficient length. To do this, you will need to carefully excavate the soil at the base of each process. However, it is recommended to carry out such "studies" only after the mother socket has completely wilted, then the young socket is ready for separation. If you carry out the separation of "children" without the presence of root processes, do not expect that they will grow. The old plant is removed from the pot, the roots are cleaned from the soil and the shoots are cut off with a sharpened knife. It is important to remember that the roots of this exotic are very fragile.
Difficulties in growing a plant and ways to solve them
Most of all Gusmania can suffer from fungal diseases, which occur in case of high humidity and a significant decrease in heat indicators. It is important not to flood the substrate, but just add a little liquid to the leaf outlet. However, with an increased water content in it, the plant will begin to wilt, and the roots and stem are affected by decay.
The appearance of a pale brown spot on the foliage indicates sunburn and will require shading. When the tips of the leaves turn brown, then, apparently, the air in the room is too dry, it will be necessary to spray the foliage in the summer heat, this also appears when watering with hard water or its absence in the leaf funnel. If the spraying was carried out with hard water, a whitish lime deposit appears on the surface of the leaves. Better to use rain or melt water.
The plant can be affected by mealybugs and spider mites. An insecticide spraying is required.
Interesting facts about Gusmania
It is curious that on the territory of Russia and many Slavic countries, this representative of the flora bears the wrong name - guzmania. This is due to the fact that if we take the Latin transliteration from the word Guzmania, then it sounds like that, but this is incorrect, since the name of the plant was given in honor of the Spanish scientist Guzman, then there should not be any letter "z". However, flower growers do not pay attention to this.
Over the millennia of its existence on the planet, many species of this genus have more than once been on the verge of extinction, since the possibility of their pollination has disappeared. But mother nature invented a variant of saving her representative - the seed material was tied up by the method of cleistogamy. This is the ability of plant flowers to self-pollinate, in which the entire pollination process takes place in closed buds. In Gusmania, such flowers did not open, and the pollen, ripening inside the bud, fell on its own on the pistil, and the pollination process came to its logical conclusion.
It is a pity, but it is possible to admire the flowering of this exotic only once, since if the bracts were pollinated, then they wither, and the old leaf rosette begins to die off. On the territory of its natural growth, gusmania is a symbol of the male sex, and if the plant is next to a man, it helps to maintain vigor and prolong male longevity. Bioenergetics confirm the positive effect of an exotic beauty on the human body.
It is also observed that when this flower is grown in a room, the air is well purified. This action manifests itself in any room, be it an office or a living room, but it is at home that all the properties of gusmania are more pronounced. As a room culture, it helps to get rid of a painful depressive state, improves sleep, and the general condition of the body stabilizes, this happens even when contemplating foliage.
Types of gusmania
The Donnell-Smith Guzmania (Guzmania donnell-smithii) is an epiphytic plant that grows on the branches or trunks of trees. The leaf plates reach a length of 60 cm and a width of up to 3 cm. A loose leaf rosette is formed from them. The shape of the leaf is lingual, sharpened to the top, the color is green and the entire surface is covered with scales with a paler color. The peduncle grows upright. On it, the leaves are in the form of tiles, and they tightly cover the flowering stem and are also present in the lower part of the inflorescence. The inflorescence with a complex shape is pyramidal-paniculate, reaching a length of 10 cm. It is dense, its axis is bare. On the inflorescences, the leaves in the lower part have a bend and wide-oval contours, its tip is sharp, the color is bright red, at the top of the scales are strongly pressed. Spikelets grow dense, standing on the legs, the composition includes 2-3 flowers, the spikelet itself reaches a centimeter. The bracts are rounded, thin-filmy, they vary in length from 8–10 cm, their size is shorter than that of sepals, and their surface is bare. The tube formed by sepals has a short length, their contours are asymmetric with narrow elliptical outlines, the apex is obtuse, the surface is veined. The outer sepals are glabrous or covered with scattered whitish scales. The petals are spliced, the blades have an oval silhouette, obtuse, reaching a length of about 2 cm, the stamens do not protrude from the corolla.
The flowering process lasts until April-May. Grown in culture since 1908. Under natural conditions, it can be found in the region of Costa Rica, Panama is "located" at an altitude of 700-1400 m above sea level, where rainy forests grow.
Blood-red guzmania (Guzmania sanguinea) also grows in the form of an epiphyte. The rosette has the shape of a glass and consists of 15–18 leaf plates, its dimensions reach 30 cm. The outlines of the leaves are broad-linear with the top bent down. Their edge is whole-edged, at the time when flowering is in progress, all the leaves or only those that grow inside the rosette can take on a bright red hue. This variety does not have a sufficiently developed peduncle. In the inflorescence 7–12 buds are connected, the shape of the inflorescence is corymbose, with a leaf-like wrapper. It is practically immersed in a leaf outlet. The flowers have pedicels, the bracts are thin and they exceed the sepals in length. The latter reach a length of 1.7 cm, their shape is elliptical, the apex is obtuse, at the base they are spliced. Flower petals can grow up to 7.5 cm in length, broadly oval, growing together, they form a narrow tube. In its upper part, the petals are free.
The following varieties are present:
- Var. sangu-inea has leaves with parameters 40 cm in length, with a width of 5.5 cm. The bracts are flat, rounded, with a pointed tip, the petals are whitish or greenish-yellow. It grows on the territory of Costa Rica, Colombia, as well as in Trinidad, Tobago and Ecuador, "climbing" to an absolute height of 1050 m. Likes to settle in woodlands, the flowering process in the April months and at the end of summer.
- Var. brevipedicel-lata can have leaves up to 20 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. Bracts are pointed, helmet-shaped, measuring 2.2 cm in length.
- Tricolor - leaf plates are decorated with whitish longitudinal stripes on a dark emerald background. The color of the flower petals is yellow.
Mosaic Guzmania (Guzmania musaica) is an epiphyte found on lands from Guatemala to Colombia and also in northeastern Brazil. Often it can "settle" in forests at an altitude of 70-1000 meters above sea level. The leaf rosette has loose and spreading outlines. The leaves themselves grow up to 40 cm long and about 4–8 cm wide. Their number in a rosette often varies between 15–20 units. The shape of the leaf is lingual, at the top there is a rounding, which is abruptly replaced by a point, the edge is all-edged.
The peduncle is straight, its length does not exceed the size of the leaves, on the peduncle there are leaves with broadly elliptical outlines, pointed at the tip or with a very sharp apex, tiled, swollen and painted in a bright pink shade. The inflorescence has the shape of a capitate spike, simple, it usually consists of 12–25 buds, devoid of pubescence. Bracts with a bright pink color, wide obovate in shape, with a pointed tip at the top, their surface is leathery. They are half the length of the sepals and encompass the flower at its base. The flowers, however, are devoid of pedicels (sessile), the sepals are elongated, with a blunt end. The inflorescences are erect and with a beautiful red tint. The bracts are a bit like a helmet. Petals with a yellowish-white color scheme. The number of flowers is large, the flowering process is extended from February to July.
There is a variation of var. flammea, whose leaves vary in length in the range of 24–34 cm with a width of up to 1–1, 7 cm. The number of buds in the inflorescence is small, the bracts resemble some of the outlines of a helmet. This variety grows on the lands of Colombia and Ecuador, "settling" in the forests at an altitude of 5-1000 m above sea level. Flowering can be observed from early July to late summer.
For more information on growing gusmania, see this video:
