Scientific Name
Bukiniczia cabulica (Boiss.) Lincz.
Synonyms
Statice cabulica, Aeoniopsis cabulica, Goniolimon cabulicum, Dictyolimon macrorrhabdos
Scientific Classification
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Genus: Bukiniczia
Flower
Color: Pink
Bloom Time: Summer
Description
Bukiniczia cabulica is a biennial plant that forms a basal rosette of heart-shaped, bluish-green leaves with intricate, creamy white veins. The rosette grows up to 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter. The second summer produces architecturally appealing, multi-branching, up to 14 inches (35 cm) tall flower stalks with inconspicuous pink flowers.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zone 5a to 9b: from −15 °F (−26.1 °C) to 30 °F (−1.1 °C).
How to Grow and Care
This rare and quite astonishing, totally frost-hardy foliage plant is the sole species in the monotypic genus Bukiniczia and is native to the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it grows at elevations of up to 9,850 feet (3,000 m).
Bukiniczia cabulica is monocarpic but reseeds reliably for future generations. It may also multiply by forming offsets if it is not allowed to complete its sexual reproduction cycle. The flowers should be cut off as soon as the scape begins to elongate or better still gouged out from the center of the rosette while still just a meristem to encourage offsetting. Rosettes that flower before offsetting are dead.
Seeds can be sown at any time but are best sown in winter or early spring to benefit from a cold spell in the wet compost to break their dormancy.
The species is also offered in the trade under Dictyolimon macrorrhabdos, but that name properly belongs to a different Plumbaginaceae species.
Bukiniczia cabulica would make a good companion plant in a cold-hardy cactus and succulent garden or a rock garden. It is well adapted to growing under the same conditions as most succulent plants.
Origin
This species is native to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Links
- Back to genus Bukiniczia
- Plantpedia: Browse flowering plants by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, or Origin
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