Torenia
| Torenia subsp. var. | Wishbone flower | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Torenia is a genus of plants in the snapdragon family, Scrophulariaceae or also classified in Linderniaceae by some authors. Often called Wishbone flowers, some species are grown as garden plants. Many F1 and F2 Torenia hybrids have been hybridizied in the last 30 years. Colors can range from white with yellow thoats to violet, blue, cobalt, lavender and purple.
| Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture |
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Torenia (named for Olaf Toren, clergyman; traveled in China 1750-1752 and discovered T. asiatica). Scrophulariaceae. Glabrous, pubescent or hirsute annual or perennial herbs, mostly low, branching and somewhat decumbent, grown sometimes in the warmhouse for winter bloom, but mostly grown as garden annuals. Leaves opposite, entire, crenate or serrate: racemes short, few-fld., terminal or false-axillary; calyx tubular, plicate or 3-5-winged, apex obliquely 3-5-toothed or 2-lipped; corolla-tube cylindrical or often broadened above, 2-lipped; stamens 4, perfect, in pairs of unequal length: caps. oblong.—About 33 species, Trop. and E. extra- Trop. Asia and Trop. Afr. Torenias are of easy cultivation and are very useful for window-boxes, low borders, or even for large masses. The flowers are not large but the plants are floriferous and keep in good leaf and flowers from spring to frost. T. Fournieri has the best habit for a bedding plant, but it may be bordered with T. flava. They are easily raised from seed, sown indoors or in the open, but may also be grown from cuttings. In Florida Torenia Fournieri is an excellent substitute for the pansy, which is cultivated only with difficulty so far south. Young plants come up by the hundreds around the old plants from self-sown seed during the rainy season. The species can also be propagated with great ease by cuttings. The torenia shows its full beauty when planted in beds or borders or in masses in front of small evergreen shrubs. It flowers abundantly throughout the summer, and even late in fall isolated flowers may be found. The best results are obtained by treating it as an annual. Any good and rich light soil seems to meet its requirements. It succeeds almost everywhere but prefers shade and moisture. It even grows luxuriantly in wet places along ditches and water-courses where forget-me-nots grow in the North. If such localities, however, are very shady, the flowers, though much larger, are neither produced so abundantly nor are they colored so brightly as in sunny situations. On the other hand, it is sometimes found in such dry positions, where only cacti and yuccas manage to live, that one can scarcely understand how it is able to succeed. In good soil the torenia attains a height of 8 to 10 inches, and when planted about 8 inches apart soon covers the ground entirely. There is already a great variety in colors, but the typical plant has beautiful light blue and royal purple flowers, with a bright yellow throat, in texture rivaling the most exquisite velvet. CH
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Cultivation
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Species
Gallery
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
