Brigamia is a spectacular flowering plant that resembles a small palm tree. It is often called the Hawaiian palm (at the place of origin). On the volcanic slopes of the Hawaiian Islands, not so long ago you could meet whole thickets of brigamy. Although in the natural environment of brigamy exist more than one million years, they began to cultivate more recently. In leaving, the palm is quite demanding, but subject to the necessary conditions, it amazes with its growth rate and fabulous beauty.
General description
Brigamia is a stem succulent of the Bellflower family. She uses a fleshy stem (caudex) to store fluid and nutrients. Caudex is strongly thickened at the base and gradually narrows. The bark of a young plant is painted in light green tones, but gradually becomes grayish. The surface of the leaves and stem is smooth. So the plant is protected from excessive evaporation.
In the natural environment, the Hawaiian palm reaches a height of 2 m, but when grown indoors rarely grows to 1 m. Each plant usually has one, slightly curved, stem. Sometimes, as a result of damage, another growth point may form and the palm becomes bicornic. Such a brigamy in the photo and in reality has an even more exotic look. Some experts purposely seek new stems, but such attempts are not always crowned with success.
Leaves are formed only at the top of the trunk, giving the plant a palm-like appearance. As the caudex grows and leaves fall, relief traces remain that increase the plant's resemblance to a palm tree. The leaves are fleshy, ovoid or oval. Leaves with a wax coating are attached to the stem with short stalks and are painted in light green. The sheet length varies from 12 to 20 cm, and the width is 6-11 cm.
The flowering period occurs at the beginning of autumn, but occurs only with sufficient lighting. The plant blooms every 2-4 years, starting from the age of two. Small stems form in the axils of the leaves, which gradually grow into paniculate inflorescences. The panicle size barely reaches 15 cm. The flowers in the shape of a 5-petal bell are painted in yellow, cream or white. They exude an intense aroma of vanilla and honeysuckle. On each peduncle, 3-5 buds are grouped, which are opened in turn.
As a result of pollination in flowers, small fruits are formed in the form of elongated capsules up to 2 cm long. The capsules contain several oblong seeds with a tuberous or smooth skin. The length of the seeds is 8-12 mm.
The struggle for the preservation of the species
For a long time, brigamy felt fine near Hawaiian volcanoes, but the appearance of a man almost wiped it off the face of the earth. The problem is that only one species of insects with a very long proboscis could pollinate the flowers. Violation of the ecological balance led to the extinction of bugs and brigamy could no longer form seeds for normal reproduction.
Since palm trees grow very high, on steep volcanic slopes, it was very difficult for people to carry out the pollination process. Climbers, risking their lives, pollinated brigamy and were able to get seeds for growing in greenhouses.
Today, most specimens of brigamy are distributed worldwide by Dutch breeders. They clone plants and use other selection methods to prevent the disappearance of such a beautiful representative of the flora. Now it’s not so difficult to buy brigamy, although it is sold only in large stores.
Varieties
Brigamia (Hawaiian palm) is not very diverse. To date, only two varieties are known:
- Brigamy Rocky. Most common in indoor cultivation and has a thicker stem base. The variety blooms exclusively in white flowers and has seeds with a smooth surface.
Brigamy rocky - Brigamia is wonderful. Has a uniformly swollen stem along the entire length. The flowers are cream and yellow, and the seeds are covered with rough skin.
Brigamia is wonderful
Breeding
It is most convenient to propagate brigamy seed way. If you decide to start brigamy, you can buy seeds on the Internet or in a large flower shop. Seeds are soaked for a day in warm water, and then sown in a mixture of sand, perlite and peat. For 1-3 weeks, the pot is kept in a dark and warm place, and also regularly watered. When the seedlings grow to 2.5 cm, they are dived and transplanted into separate pots. It is important to provide young plants with greenhouse conditions with high air humidity and temperature.
You can achieve the formation of young shoots on an adult plant. To do this, carefully damage the upper part of the alignment. The shoot is carefully cut and allowed to weather for 1-2 days. Then plant the plant in sandy soil and cover with a film. In anticipation of the roots, the greenhouse is kept in a well-lit room and ventilated daily.
Home Care
For the full growth and flowering of brigamia, care must be thorough. Otherwise, you have to wonder: why does brigamy drop leaves? Under any stress, the plant begins to get rid of foliage and may completely lose its vegetation. This does not mean that brigamy is dead. The fleshy stalk can remain viable for a long time and grow a new crown.
In the temperate climate of brigamy, it is important to provide greenhouse conditions. She is afraid of drafts and extreme temperatures, and also suffers from dry air. The plant is exposed in a well-lit place, but on the windowsill it can get burned. If you put a pot with a palm tree in the garden or on the terrace, fresh air will help protect the greens from damage. During the formation of peduncles, brigamy cannot be moved or rotated so that the light source is always on one side. Otherwise, the buds will fall off without opening.
The optimum temperature for brigamy is + 25 ... + 27 ° C. Cooling leads to a slowdown in growth and decay of the stem. Water the Hawaiian palm should be moderate, but use warm water (+ 23 ° C) for this. Watering is done once a week, and on hot days - once every 5 days. In winter, the plant normally tolerates a break in watering up to 6 weeks. From April to October, cactus top dressing is added to brigamia irrigation water.
To revive the plant when the leaves turn yellow at brigamia, you can arrange for it a steam sauna or a warm shower. The barrel is washed with warm jets of water, and then left for 5 hours in the bathroom with a lot of steam. The light in the room cannot be turned off during the procedure.
Brigamia is resistant to disease, only occasionally it can be affected by rot. Succulent plant leaves attract aphids, spider mites, whiteflies and slugs. If parasites are found, the plant should be immediately treated with an insecticide (sunmight, acarin, sulfarone) or a soap solution.
Using
Brigamia is a houseplant and can become a real decoration of a stone garden or greenhouse. At home, residents use its leaves and juice as a disinfecting and healing agent, but concentrated juice causes itching and irritation.
