''Sinningia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It is named after Wilhelm Sinning (1792–1874), a gardener of the Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. There are about 65 species of tuberous herbaceous plant, herbaceous perennial plant, perennials, all occurring in Central America, Central and South America, with the greatest concentration of species occurring in southern Brazil. The best-known species, ''Sinningia speciosa'', was originally introduced in cultivation as ''Gloxinia speciosa'' and is still commonly known to gardeners and in the horticultural trade as "gloxinia", although this is now considered incorrect. The true genus ''Gloxinia (genus), Gloxinia'' is distinguished by having scaly rhizomes rather than tubers. ''Sinningia'' species often grow on rocks or cliffs and most are pollinated by hummingbirds or bees but ''Sinningia brasiliensis'' is bat-pollinated, and ''Sinningia tubiflora'', with large, powerfully fragrant tubular white flowers, is apparently pollinated by sphinx moths. Most of the species have large, brightly colored flowers. Because of this, numerous species and numerous Hybrid (biology)#Hybrid plants, hybrids and cultivars are grown as houseplants. A cultivar worth knowing is ''Sinningia x 'Lovely.' ''This beautifully gentle plant is a cross between ''Sinningia sellovii'' and ''Sinningia tubiflora.'' Its tall spikes and tubular flowers attract butterflies, and delight gardeners. Some species with particularly large tubers are cultivated by cactus and succulent plant, succulent enthusiasts as Caudex, caudiciforms. One such example is ''Sinningia leucotricha'', often listed under the older name ''Rechsteineria leucotricha'' and dubbed "Brazilian edelweiss" for its covering of silvery, silky hairs. Other species with large tubers are ''Sinningia iarae'', ''Sinningia lineata'', and ''Sinningia macropoda.'' The Brazilian genera ''Paliavana'' and ''Vanhouttea'', consisting of shrubby plants without tubers, are closely related to ''Sinningia'' and recent morphological and molecular analyses (Boggan 1991, Perret et al. 2003) suggest that these genera are, in fact, nontuberous ''Sinningia'' species. All three genera were included in tribe Gloxinieae in the classification system of Hans Wiehler but are now recognized in their own tribe, Sinningieae. Numerous genera, including ''Corytholoma'', ''Rechsteineria'' and ''Lietzia'', have been synonymized under ''Sinningia''.

Garden uses and cultivation

File:Sinningia incarnata.jpg, ''Sinningia incarnata'' File:迷你岩桐 Sinningia Quasar -香港花展 Hong Kong Flower Show- (17015358186).jpg, A miniature ''Sinningia'' hybrid File:Sinningia leucotricha 39298.JPG, ''Sinningia leucotricha'' cultivated to highlight the large tuber Sinningias are attractive greenhouse plants and houseplants that appeal strongly to gardeners who like to specialize in particular plant groups. The chief environmental needs are warmth, high humidity, suitable soil and good light with shade from strong sun. The soil should be well drained. It should contain a liberal proportion of organic matter, such as leaf mold or peat moss, and enough coarse sand or perlite to ensure good porosity. The hybrid cultivars 'Empress Purple Spotted' and 'Empress Red' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Species

81 species are accepted. * ''Sinningia aggregata'' (Ker Gawl.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia aghensis'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia allagophylla'' * ''Sinningia amambayensis'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia araneosa'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia barbata'' (Nees & Mart.) G. Nicholson * ''Sinningia bragae'' * ''Sinningia brasiliensis'' (Regel & E. Schmidt) Wiehler * ''Sinningia bulbosa'' (Ker Gawl.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia bullata'' Alain Chautems, Chautems & M.Peixoto * ''Sinningia calcaria'' * ''Sinningia canastrensis'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia canescens'' (Mart.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia carangolensis'' * ''Sinningia cardinalis'' (Lehm.) H.E.Moore * ''Sinningia carolinae'' (Wawra) Benth. & Hook. f. ex Siebert & Voss * ''Sinningia cochlearis'' (Hook.) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia concinna'' (Hook. f.) G. Nicholson * ''Sinningia conspicua'' * ''Sinningia cooperi'' (J. Paxton) Wiehler * ''Sinningia curtiflora'' * ''Sinningia defoliata'' * ''Sinningia douglasii'' (Lindl.) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia elatior'' (Kunth) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia eumorpha'' H.E. Moore * ''Sinningia flammea'' * ''Sinningia ganevii'' * ''Sinningia gerdtiana'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia gesnerifolia'' (Hanst.) Clayberg * ''Sinningia gigantifolia'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia glazioviana'' (Fritsch) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia globulosa'' Alain Chautems, Chautems & M.Peixoto * ''Sinningia guttata'' Lindl. * ''Sinningia harleyi'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia hatschbachii'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia helioana'' Alain Chautems, Chautems & Rossini * ''Sinningia helleri'' Nees * ''Sinningia hirsuta'' (Lindl.) G.Nicholson * ''Sinningia hoehnei'' * ''Sinningia iarae'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia incarnata'' (Aubl.) D.L.Denham * ''Sinningia insularis'' (Hoehne) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia kautskyi'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia lateritia'' * ''Sinningia leopoldii'' (Scheidw. ex Planch.) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia leucotricha'' (Hoehne) H.E.Moore * ''Sinningia lindleyi'' Schauer * ''Sinningia lineata'' (Hjelmq.) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia lutea'' * ''Sinningia macrophylla'' (Nees & Mart.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex Fritsch * ''Sinningia macropoda'' * ''Sinningia macrostachya'' (Lindl.) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia magnifica'' (Otto & A. Dietr.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia mauroana'' Chautems * ''Sinningia micans'' (Fritsch) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia minima'' * ''Sinningia muscicola'' Alain Chautems, Chautems, T.Lopes & M.Peixoto * ''Sinningia nivalis'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia nordestina'' Alain Chautems, Chautems, Baracho & J.A.Siqueira Filho * ''Sinningia piresiana'' (Hoehne) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia polyantha'' (DC.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia punctata'' * ''Sinningia pusilla'' (Mart.) Baill. * ''Sinningia ramboi'' * ''Sinningia reitzii'' (Hoehne) L.E. Skog * ''Sinningia richii'' Clayberg * ''Sinningia rupicola'' (Mart.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia sceptrum'' (Mart.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia schiffneri'' Fritsch * ''Sinningia schomburgkiana'' * ''Sinningia sellovii'' (Mart.) Wiehler * ''Sinningia speciosa'' (Lodd.) Hiern * ''Sinningia stapelioides'' * ''Sinningia striata'' (Fritsch) Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia sulcata'' * ''Sinningia sulphurea'' * ''Sinningia tuberosa'' (Mart.) H.E.Moore * ''Sinningia tubiflora'' (Hook.) Fritsch * ''Sinningia valsuganensis'' Alain Chautems, Chautems * ''Sinningia velutina'' Lindl. * ''Sinningia villosa'' Lindl. * ''Sinningia warmingii'' (Hiern) Alain Chautems, Chautems

References

* Boggan, J.K. 1991. 1991. A morphological study and cladistic analysis of ''Sinningia'' and associated genera with particular reference to ''Lembocarpus'', ''Lietzia'', ''Paliavana'', and ''Vanhouttea'' (Gesneriaceae: Gloxinieae). Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. ix + 179 pages, 21 figures. [Copies available at Cornell University and Smithsonian Institution libraries.] * Perret, M., A. Chautems, R. Spichiger, G. Kite, & Vincent Savolainen, V. Savolainen. 2003
Systematics and evolution of tribe Sinningieae (Gesneriaceae): evidence from phylogenetic analyses of six plastid DNA regions and nuclear ncpGS
''American Journal of Botany'' 90(3): 445-460. * Wiehler, H. 1983
A synopsis of the neotropical Gesneriaceae
''Selbyana'' 6: 1-219. * Wiehler, H. and A. Chautems. 1995. A reduction of ''Lietzia'' to ''Sinningia''. Gesneriana 1(1): 5-7.

External links

The Genera of Gesneriaceae

from th
Gesneriad Reference Web

Gesneriaceae in: Brazilian Flora Checklist
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159407 Sinningia, Gesneriaceae genera Flora of the Neotropical realm Taxa described in 1825 Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck