Zinnia hybrida
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''Zinnia elegans'' (
syn. The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...
''Zinnia violacea'') known as youth-and-age, common zinnia or elegant zinnia, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
to Mexico but grown as an ornamental in many places and naturalised in several places, including scattered locations in South and Central America, the West Indies, the United States, Australia, and Italy.


Description

The uncultivated plant grows to about in height. It has solitary flower heads about across. The purple ray florets surround black and yellow discs. The lanceolate leaves are opposite the flower heads. Flowering occurs during the summer months.


History

The species was first collected in 1789 at Tixtla, Guerrero, by Sessé and Mociño. It was formally described as ''Zinnia violacea'' by Cavanilles in 1791. Jacquin described it again in 1792 as ''Zinnia elegans'', which was the name that Sessé and Moçiño had used in their manuscript of ''Plantae Novae Hispaniae'', which was not published until 1890. The genus was named by Carl von Linné after the German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn, who described the species now known as ''
Zinnia peruviana ''Zinnia peruviana'', the Peruvian zinnia, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America and South America. Description ''Zinnia peruviana'' is an annual plant up to 50 cm tall (rarely 100 cm ta ...
'' in 1757 as ''Rudbeckia foliis oppositis hirsutis ovato-acutis, calyce imbricatus, radii petalis pistillatis''. Linné realised that it was not a ''
Rudbeckia ''Rudbeckia'' () is a plant genus in the Asteraceae or composite family. Rudbeckia flowers feature a prominent, raised central disc in black, brown shades of green, and in-between tones, giving rise to their familiar common names of coneflowers a ...
''.


Cultivation

The garden zinnia was bred via hybridisation from the wild form. Zinnias are popular garden plants with hundreds of
cultivars A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...
in many flower colours, sizes and forms. There are giant forms with flower heads up to in diameter. Flower colours range from white and cream to pinks, reds, and purples, to green, yellow,
apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...
, orange, salmon, and bronze. Some are striped, speckled or bicoloured. There are " pom-pom" forms that resemble
dahlias Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflowe ...
. Sizes range from dwarf varieties of less than in height to tall. The powdery mildew common to zinnias in humid climates is less common in recently developed varieties, which are resistant. The following have won the Royal Horticultural Society's
Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...
: *'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose' *'Benary's Giant Scarlet' *'Dreamland Mixed' *'Dreamland Rose' *'Dreamland Scarlet' *'Dreamland Yellow' *'Purple Prince' *'Short Stuff Orange' *'Zinderella Peach' *'Zowie! Yellow Flame' Other cultivars include 'Magellan', 'Envy Double', 'Fireworks', 'Blue Point Purple', 'Profusion Cherry', 'Profusion Orange', 'Star Gold', 'Star Orange', and several white-flowered types such as 'Crystal White', 'Purity', and 'Profusion White'. Mixed-colour seed selections are available.


Growth

Zinnias grow easily and prefer well-drained,
loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...
y soil and full sun. They grow best in dry, warm, frost-free regions, and many kinds are drought-tolerant. As they do not tolerate freezing temperatures, in temperate zones they must be sown after all danger of frost has passed. Alternatively they may be sown under cover, and carefully transplanted into their final positions when the soil warms up.


Gallery

File:Zinnia elegans flower (1).jpg File:Zinnia elegans 3.jpg File:Abejorro (Bombus lucorum) en una Zinnia elegans, Jardín Botánico, Múnich, Alemania, 2013-09-08, DD 01.JPG, File:Zinnia elegans at Kadavoor.jpg File:Zinnia July 2010-1.jpg File:Zinnia elegans 1.jpg File:Plumchen 002.jpg File:Zinnia elegans flowers (Rajbiraj, Saptari, Nepal) 2015-04-25.jpg File:Zinnia elegans, plantation, Alhambra, Granada, Spain.jpg


References


General sources


Floridata: ''Zinnia elegans''

Plant of the week: ''Zinnia elegans''



Wildflower Information: ''Zinnia elegans''





Kew Plant List

The International Plant Names Index


External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15245321, from2=Q205087 elegans Flora of Mexico Butterfly food plants