Lakonos - a genus of plants belonging to the family lakonosnyh. Also called phytolacca (Phytolacca). It has several popular names: lentil berries, greasy grass, kermesovye berries, Jewish ivy. Recently spread in the Ciscaucasia and Transcaucasia as a weed. His homeland is North America. In garden design, only one of the 25 species belonging to this family is used - the ten-stamen varnish, or American.
This is a large grassy perennial with aerial part dying for the winter. Small greenish-white flowers of lacunosa are collected in racemose erect dense inflorescences about 15 cm long and about 2 cm in diameter. The stem rhizome goes deep into the soil by 0.5 m or more. The height of the plant with thick stems is approximately 2 m. The leaves are up to 20 cm long, light green (in autumn with a reddish tint), oval-oblong, alternate, with distinctly yellowish streaks.
Lakonos blooms flowers in July and pleases their eyes until the end of August. Around mid-September, berries begin to ripen. At first they are green, later becoming dark red, almost black. During the period when the berries ripen on the plant, it is very decorative, and the dark “buttons” sparkling in the sun are beckoning to try them.
All parts of the plant lakonos (flowers, berries, leaves, roots) are poisonous. They contain tannins and saponins in large quantities, you can not taste the original cones. And if there are small children, then planting a phytolacchus on your site is not worth it, because it’s so difficult to see tomboys, they strive to put everything in their mouths, and fatal outcomes, unfortunately, are known.
Seeds ripen by October. They are small, about 3 mm, black with a metallic sheen. Scattered, they can sprout in the most inappropriate places. Attempts to transplant lakonos these flowers are poorly tolerated and often die. However, in this place after a couple of years they can grow again.
Fitolakka is a shade-tolerant plant, but grows much better in sunny areas. It prefers cultivated soils, but can grow on any, except too acidic. Thanks to the powerful fleshy roots, the plant is able to produce water, but in hot weather it is advisable to water it abundantly. Can only suffer from
spring and autumn frosts, but recovers quickly. In winter, the aerial part must be cut off, and it is desirable to cover the root, for example, with a layer of humus, peat or garden soil.
It is preferable to propagate with the seeds of lakonos. Flowers may appear in the first year of growing. Freshly harvested seeds without peeling the pulp are best sown in the winter at a shallow depth (about 2.5 cm). When storing seeds in a dry place, their germination after six months only increases. Strongly overgrown rhizome can be divided into parts so that on each piece there are kidneys of renewal. The procedure is best done in early spring.
Lakonos, whose flower is unattractive (but “ears with cones” is interesting), is a citizen of the world. He feels good where there is room, no matter the mountain village it will be or a metropolis. He is able to show himself in mixed plantings (in the background of flower beds), and in single.
