In home gardens and city flower beds there are bright flowers of a peculiar shape. They look like a high Mexican hat with colored brim. What are these plants and where did they come from in our flower beds? This is a columnar ratibida, which came to our latitudes from North America.
A little about the discoverer
The first description of the flower was made by an American naturalist. This man's name is not easy to remember. His name was Constantin Samuel Rafinesque-Schmalz. This scientist was engaged not only in zoology and botany, but was a specialist in the field of meteorology and anthropology. He was also a geologist and linguist. Life time of a scientist 1783-1840.
Rafinesk-Schm altz was a genius of his era, but many considered the scientist crazy. While studying the vegetation of North America, he happened to describe at least 250 new species, but the scientist came up with very strange names for many of them. An example of this oddity is the ratibida plant, which has a simpler name - the Mexican hat.
Introducing the plant
Plantratibida belongs to the Asteraceae family. The genus Compositae ratibid is quite small. It has only 7 plants that grow in North America. Man began to cultivate only 3 species:
- ratibida columnar (Mexican hat);
- ratibida pinnate;
- Mexican ratibida.
The word "columnar" in the first name is not quite the correct translation from Latin. It would be more correct "column-bearing".
Some classifications use the genus name Lepachys. The word has two Greek roots, which in translation mean "scales" and "thick". The name reflects some structural features of the flower wrap. The fact is that the leaves of the wrapper have a thickened part on top, covered with resinous glands.
Ratibida columnar, or Mexican hat, is a branched perennial. A sprawling bush is made up of a large number of strong and ribbed stems, the height of which can be more than 1 meter. To the touch, the plant in any part of it is rough (glandular-hairy). The lower petiolate leaves of the bush have a grayish-green color, their length is 15-16 cm. The width of the leaves is about 6 cm. The structure of the leaves is pinnate or doubly pinnate. Each leaf can have up to 14 narrow segments.
Flower structure
Ratibida flower rises above the foliage. This is a basket with a diameter of about 6 cm. Female reed flowers adjoin the lower part of the convex disk, their shape is obovate, and their length is 2.5-3 cm. Reed flowers are arranged in one row. They are bent to the sidestem. The color of different species is yellow, yellow-purple, maroon. Colon ratibida is characterized by a dark color - burgundy or brown with a bright yellow edging.
The disc of the flower is elongated, hemispherical. Initially, it is yellowish-green, its length can be up to 5 cm, and its width can be more than 1 cm. About 400 small tubular bisexual flowers are located along the disk. During flowering, the disk becomes taller, becomes cylindrical and changes color to yellow-brown.
Ratibida fruits are small light brown achenes.
Similarities and differences with the closest relatives
The Mexican hat, i.e. ratibida, is closest to two known genera - Echinacea and Rudbeckia. Ratibidu pinnate is generally often confused with rudbeckia (photo above), since these flowers have petals in the form of yellow pointed tongues pointing down. Petals grow around a protruding black-brown center. Obvious differences between the species are in the structure of the petals of the involucre, and also in the elongated inner disk. Actually, the combination of an elongated disk and a lowered inflorescence made the ratibida look so much like a Mexican headdress. What is the name of the Mexican hat? Sombrero. So don't be surprised if you see ratibida seeds with the name "Sombrero", this is not a mistake, just a different reading of the name.
Distribution of ratibida kolonovidnaya
This type of Mexican hat grows over vast areas. A bright flower can be found from Canada, andmore specifically, the province of Ontario, to the southern borders of Mexico. The greatest concentration of plants in the Great Plains, since ratibida prefers prairie and grasslands. However, the plant can also feel good in mountainous areas - a bright flower is found up to a height of 2000 m.
Ratibida (Mexican hat): Cultivation
Many housewives would like to decorate their flower beds with an unusual flower. They have a huge selection. Ratibida has been cultivated for several centuries, since about 1811. But for us, this plant is still exotic. Mexican hat is a very colorful name, and gardeners think that the plant will cause a lot of trouble. But it's not. Ratibida columnar is unpretentious, only the decorativeness and splendor of the bush will depend on the quality of care, but the plant itself will not die.
It is best to plant ratibida in flowerbeds on the sunny side. The place should warm up well. This plant does not like shading. It is advisable to plant the North American beauty in calcareous soils with an acidity of about 7.5.
The landing site for ratibida has been prepared since autumn. Loose dolomite flour mixed with sand is introduced into the soil. The plant is suitable for poor soils, the main thing is that they are not clayey. However, fertilized soil guarantees lush flowering. The Mexican hat does not require special care. It tolerates low temperatures and drought well. Watering ratibida is carried out to prolong flowering. To garden pests and various diseases of ratibidstable.
The only problem is the fight against self-seeding. The Mexican hat grows well, and if there is a chance of crushing neighboring plants, the extra self-seeding should be removed.
