Wednesday 8 March 2017

Bleeding hearts (Caladium hortulanum)


Due to heart shaped leaves and many varieties having blood red streaks, this wonderful plant is named as 'Bleeding hearts'. Another plant, Clerodendrum thomsonae, also is commonly named as 'Bleeding hearts. These plants have heart shaped inflorescence, with white sepals and blood red petals.

























Caladiums love semi shade and highly humid locations. Though they are perennial, many go dormant after monsoon. In dormancy all the leaves die and the corms in the ground remain dormant. Just before monsoon next year, the corms burst in to new growth, exhibiting their gorgeous leaves. There are many varieties with different colour patterns and some have different shapes too. Though these plants have flowers, they are insignificant; thus they are considered as decorative foliage plants only. Caladium humboldtii is a compact growing and very attractive species. Due to its small size it is very ideal for terrarium garden.




Propagation of this plant is by division. A single corm, as it grows, produces many baby corms. The plant belongs to Araceae family, to which money plant also belongs.

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