Dolphin plant
- Thread starter sissy
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The pictures are a little blurry but I can see it's a very pretty flower
. I love its color, it's so vivid! I also like the shape of it, it looks really interesting. It's exciting when our plants bloom, isn't it?
. I love its color, it's so vivid! I also like the shape of it, it looks really interesting. It's exciting when our plants bloom, isn't it?
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This is a lovely plant. I was wondering if the dolphin plant was an indoor or outdoor plant and got my answer from google. One article states that the dolphin plant is also called the "goldfish plant." However, I've had a goldfish plant before and the blooms do resemble a small goldfish and are not as large as the blooms of the dolphin plant. It appears to be the same plant except the blooms are obviously different. It's primarily an indoor plant that needs lots of sun to thrive. A teaspoon of Epson Salt is supposed to assist in the blooming.
The Dolphin Plant pictured above is one of several different species or hybrids of Columnea in the Gesneriad Family (Gesneriaceae).
The genus Columnea is native the New World tropics, where in response to pollination by hummingbirds (Trochilidae), many species have evolved curved, flaring, tubular flowers, often in hues of red, orange, and yellow.
The name Goldfish Plant is best reserved for another genus of Gesneriad endemic to eastern Brazil: Nematanthus, in which the flowers often have a narrowly constricted entrance that bears a fanciful resemblance to the puckered mouth of a goldfish (Carassius auratus).
To add further confusion, many gardeners nowadays are more familiar with another Dolphin Plant, also known as String-of-Dolphins
(Senecio x peregrinus, or alternatively Curio x peregrinus), in the Daisy Family (Asteraceae), in which the succulent, lobed leaves of the plant bear a noticeable resemblance to a leaping dolphin (some Odontoceti, Cetacea).
The genus Columnea is native the New World tropics, where in response to pollination by hummingbirds (Trochilidae), many species have evolved curved, flaring, tubular flowers, often in hues of red, orange, and yellow.
The name Goldfish Plant is best reserved for another genus of Gesneriad endemic to eastern Brazil: Nematanthus, in which the flowers often have a narrowly constricted entrance that bears a fanciful resemblance to the puckered mouth of a goldfish (Carassius auratus).
To add further confusion, many gardeners nowadays are more familiar with another Dolphin Plant, also known as String-of-Dolphins
(Senecio x peregrinus, or alternatively Curio x peregrinus), in the Daisy Family (Asteraceae), in which the succulent, lobed leaves of the plant bear a noticeable resemblance to a leaping dolphin (some Odontoceti, Cetacea).