#solandra maxima

Solandra maxima, Solanaceae

Within the resort where I was staying in, on the southern coast of Lanzarote, I found the winner of the category ‘showiest flower of the holiday’, and I was so happy it was a yellow one! Cup of gold is a stunning, vigorous liana native to  Mexico, Central America and northern South America, where it grows on well draining soils in sunny locations, scrambling over anything which might support the weight of its heavy, heavily branching, woody stems. I’ve seen only three plants in total, two of them were grown as round, free standing, 2.5m/~7ft tall shrubs, while the last was beginning to send a few stems creeping up a wall, but it can grow extensively to completely cover walls or porches in warm, frost free parts of the world. 

The flowers are large, trumpet-shaped and a warm, golden yellow, with five prominent maroon markings in correspondence with the main veins. They are reminiscent of those of two other large-flowered Solanaceae, the moonflower (Datura inoxia) and the angel trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolens), and all three species share the fact they’re highly toxic, with various effects, and are manipulated for this reason. Maybe I just didn’t notice more of these plants while walking around, but maybe it’s just not that common there, although its resistance to salty winds makes it an excellent candidate for ornamental planting in coastal areas. 

I managed to pull together all the plants blooming in the garden on New Year’s Day, even though I didn’t work it this year. I went around on 31 December and again on 2 January. This year these taxa were flowering:

Abutilon × milleri

Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea'

Acanthus sennii

Achillea millefolium

Adlumia fungosa

Ageratina ligustrina

Ajuga reptans

Alonsoa incisifolia

Alonsoa warscewiczii

Alstroemeria aurea

Amicia zygomeris

Ammi majus

Anagyris foetida

Angelica archangelica

Anisodontea capensis

Antirrhinum majus

Arbutus canariensis

Arbutus unedo f. rubra

Argyranthemum pinnatifidum subsp. pinnatifidum

Asterotrichion discolor

Banksia integrifolia var. compar

Bergenia × schmidtii

Bergenia crassifolia

Bidens aurea

Blumenbachia insignis

Camellia sasanqua 'Hugh Evans'

Camellia sinensis

Carum carvi

Cestrum parqui

Cestrum psittacinum

Chamaemelum nobile

Chimonanthus praecox

Chimonanthus praecox Grandiflorus Group

Cistus creticus

Cneorum tricoccon

Cobaea scandens

Colletia hystrix 'Rosea'

Colletia paradoxa

Convolvulus cneorum

Coronilla valentina subsp. glauca 'Citrina'

Correa backhousiana

Cyanus segetum

Cytisus canariensis

Dahlia imperialis

Dahlia pteropoda

Delphinium × belladonna

Descurainia millefolia

Dichroa febrifuga

Diplotaxis tenuifolia

Drimys winteri

Echium hypertropicum

Eranthis hyemalis

Eriocephalus africanus

Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa

Eryngium pandanifolium 'Physic Purple'

Fabiana imbricata 'Violacea'

Fuchsia 'Hawkshead'

Fuchsia magellanica 'Thompsonii'

Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae

Fuchsia microphylla

Gaillardia aristata

Galanthus 'Art Nouveau'

Galanthus cilicicus

Galanthus elwesii

Galanthus elwesii 'Lode Star'

Galanthus elwesii 'Mrs Macnamara'

Galanthus elwesii 'Rose Lloyd'

Galanthus elwesii 'Snowfox'

Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus Hiemalis Group

Galanthus 'Farringdon Double'

Galanthus 'Lady Beatrix Stanley'

Galanthus 'Lyn'

Galanthus plicatus 'Florence Baker'

Galanthus plicatus 'Warham'

Geum rivale

Glebionis coronaria

Globularia sarcophylla

Hebe breviracemosa

Hebe 'Majorie Joan'

Hebe salicifolia

Helleborus × hybridus

Helleborus argutifolius

Helleborus foetidus

Helleborus niger

Helleborus purpurascens

Hydrangea 'Ayesha'

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Sir Joseph Banks'

Hypericum lancasteri

Hypericum pseudohenryi

Iberis amara

Iberis sempervirens

Iris unguicularis 'Walter Butt'

Jasminum mesnyi

Jasminum nudiflorum

Lamium album

Lavandula × terophylla

Lavandula dentata var. dentata (grey-leaved form)

Leucojum vernum var. vagneri

Lithodora zahnii

Lobelia tupa

Lonicera standishii

Mahonia japonica

Mahonia napaulensis

Malva sylvestris var. mauritania

Medicago arborea

Narcissus 'Mary Poppins'

Nicotiana mutabilis

Nigella sativa

Oenanthe pimpinelloides

Ononis hispida subsp. arborescens

Osmanthus decorus

Oxalis articulata

Pandorea jasminoides

Persicaria amplexicaulis

Petasites fragrans

Petrorhagia nanteuilii

Phacelia tanacetifolia

Physalis peruviana

Potentilla alba

Primula × pruhonicensis

Prunus × subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea'

Rosa × odorata 'Bengal Crimson'

Rosa chinensis 'Veridiflora'

Rosa 'Mortimer Sackler'

Rosmarinus officinalis

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Jekka's Blue'

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Prostratus'

Rubus fruticosus 'Fantasia'

Ruta graveolens

Salvia 'Amistad'

Salvia atrocyanea

Salvia confertiflora

Salvia corrugata

Salvia elegans 'Honey Melon'

Salvia gesneriiflora

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Bloom’

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

Salvia haenkei 'Prawn Chorus'

Salvia involucrata

Salvia leucantha

Salvia 'Phyllis' Fancy'

Salvia stachydifolia

Santolina magonica

Sarcococca confusa

Sarcococca hookeriana var. hookeriana

Sarcococca ruscifolia var. ruscifolia

Scabiosa minoana subsp. minoana

Scrophularia lucida

Senna corymbosa

Silene bourgaei

Silene vulgaris subsp. suffrutescens

Sinapidendron angustifolium

Solanum luteum

Tagetes lemmonii

Tanacetum parthenium

Tricyrtis lasiocarpa

Tulbaghia acutiloba

Tulbaghia violacea

Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price'

Vinca difformis

Vinca major

Westringia fruticosa

Thursday, I collected my three weeks of antibiotics and I was amazed how quickly they started working. I’m still not hungry and it’s a bit painful to eat; however, there are definite signs that all is improving. Hopefully I’ve also lost a few of those kilos I wanted to loose.

Most of the team was back at work Friday and of course we finished at 13.00. I met Susie and Luis for lunch in Duke of York Square. Then I headed home for a few hours before heading back into town to 606 Club to list to Kat Eaton. I always enjoy my evenings at 606 with Maarten, Mark, Mike and Mike.

I worked this weekend and started auditing our seed bank material.

Thankfully the antibiotics are kicking in and I’m starting to feel alive again. I was hungry for the first time in over three weeks today.

I’ve been very good about studying French for an hour to an hour and a half every day...I hope I can keep that going. I also have time to do some non-book club reading so I’m going to read Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson. It’s been a while since I’ve read a good book about adventures in that part of the world. I like to read Wilfred Thesinger, and I have his book The Marsh Arabs in my to read pile.

Plant of the week

Solanaceae Solandra maxima (Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal) P.S.Green

common name(s) - chalice vine, golden chalice vine, cup of gold vine; Spanish: capa de oro synonym(s) - Datura maxima Moc. & Sessé ex Dunal; Datura maxima Sessé & Moc. [Illegitimate]; Solandra hartwegii C.F. Ball; Solandra nitida Zuccagni; Solandra selerae Dammer ex Loes. conservation rating - none native to - Central America to Colombia location - glasshouse four, accession 2016-0362 leaves - leathery green, elliptical to 150mm flowers - fragrant at night (which attracts pollinating bats), bell-shaped, yellow to orange with purple stripes in the middle of every petal, there are five petals, to 200mm long; fruits, rarely seen in cultivation, are round berries, about 35mm in diameter habit - perennial evergreen shrubby climber, liana, to 200m long habitat - dry-to-moist forests in open areas from 1,300m to 2,600m in altitude pests - no information found disease - generally disease-free hardiness - to 1ºC (H3) soil - humus rich soils with a good layer of mulch to help retain moisture sun - full sun propagation - stem cuttings in summer, rooted with bottom heat pruning - responds well to hard pruning which should be done in early winter nomenclature - Solanaceae - solanum - comforter, an ancient Latin name in Pliny; Solandra - to honour 18th century Swedish botanist, Daniel Carlsson Solander FRS (1736-82) who was one of Linnaeus' favourite students and best friend of Sir Joseph Banks and in 1768 Solander embarked with Banks on Captain James Cook's travels around the world on the HMS Endeavour.; maxima - largest, greatest, superlative of magnus NB - extract from this species is said to be used for its hallucinogenic effects in ceremonies of the Huichol people from Mexico. It apparently pre-dates the similar use of peyote cactus in ceremonies

References, bibliography:

Eden Project [online] https://www.edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone/plant-profiles/golden-chalice-vine [4 Jan 20]

GardensOnline [online] https://www.gardensonline.com.au/GardenShed/PlantFinder/Show_1591.aspx [4 Jan 20]

Gledhill, David, (2008) “The Names of Plants”, fourth edition; Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 978-0-52168-553-5

Grow Plants [online] https://www.growplants.org/growing/solandra-maxima [4 Jan 20]

IUCN [online] http://www.iucnredlist.org/search [4 Jan 20]

Plant List, The [online] http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2579596 [4 Jan 20]

Plants of the World [online] http://plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:818078-1 [4 Jan 20]

San Marcos Growers [online] https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=1508 [2 Jan 20]