Swing

Annual or, more often, perennial low herbaceous plants ; very some alpine ("alpine") species are not herbs, but very dense and hard woody cushion plants overgrowing the cliffs of the mountainous and semi-mountainous zones of the mountains of Europe and Asia (such, for example, Gypsophila aretioides Boiss. , often found in Iran and adjacent to the mountains of Turkmenistan ).

Most species are grasses with a highly branched stem , with an abundance of basal leaves and with small flowers in leafy semi-umbrellas , or dichasias .

The leaves are always whole and simple, narrow in shape - lanceolate , elongated oval or scapular, sometimes linear.

The stem is highly developed and in the majority is multilaterally branched, but all the branches are bifid.

The flowers are small, white, whitish-green, pinkish and pink, arranged according to the type of flowers of the clove family . Calyx is bell - shaped , five-lobed, almost webbed, with a green stripe in the middle of each lobe; the petals are narrowed to the base. Stamens 10.

Fruit - a single-nested polyspermous capsule , spherical or ovoid, opening with 4 wings; seeds are rounded kidney-shaped.

More than 30 wild species of kachima are known in Russia and neighboring countries, mainly in the southern regions, the Caucasus and Central Asia .

One of them, like the wall , or the wall , Gypsophyla muralis L. - a small squat plant with pale pink flowers, is found in Central Russia very often and in huge quantities, like weed grass , between crops, especially in rye ; but this same plant is also bred in gardens very often as a beautiful, densely growing decorative species for flowerbed borders and for patterns.

Another species, the panicled one , Gypsophyla paniculata L. , with a widely spread multi-branched panicle of many flowers, growing extremely abundantly in the southern Russian steppes , forms, among others, the so-called tumbleweed - a collection of wilted grasses driven by the wind along the smooth and even steppe having taken a spherical shape after flowering ( Tumbleweed ). The roots of this, as well as a number of other species containing up to 20% saponins, are known as white soap root and are used to wash wool and silk ^[4] .

In addition to the above, about 15 forms of kachima are well known in horticulture. Of these, the most decorative:

• Gypsophyla elegans Bieb. - annual Caucasian appearance, up to 50 cm in height; narrow leaves, one-nervous, flowers pink-red, sometimes white, on long pedicels
• Gypsophyla floribunda Kar. et Kir. from East Persia, slightly fluffy plant with narrow lanceolate leaves and pink flowers
• Gypsophyla paniculata L. reaches a height of up to 1 m in a culture
• gray-green low plant Gypsophyla glauca Stev. from the Caucasus
• Alpine Gypsophyla repens L.
• Caucasian Gypsophyla trichotoma wender. and
• Gypsophyla acutifolia Fisch. - bred most often, best of all by seeds that retain their germination capacity up to 2 years, and germinate in 1-2 weeks
• Gypsophyla struthium L. , from Southern Europe and North Africa, contains saponin (or strutiin ) in the root - a substance for which the roots of this species are used when washing wool.

Most species and varieties used in floriculture are perennials. Of the annuals, the following are used: Gypsophyla elegans ^[5] and sandbury ( Gypsophila muralis ).

Location: lighted areas, tolerates light shading. In the presence of closely spaced groundwater, they die.

Soil : Light sandy loamy or loamy, nutritious, well- drained soils containing lime are preferred.

Leaving: the majority of types and grades are frost-resistant. It is better to cover young plants for the winter with dry leaves.

Diseases and pests: gray rot , smut , rust , rot of the base of the stem, jaundice, gall and cyst-forming nematodes .

Reproduction: by seed. Sowing is carried out in April - May in the distribution ridges. In autumn, seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place, with the calculation of 2-3 plants per square meter. Without transplantation, perennial species in one place can exist up to 25 years. Terry forms propagated by cuttings and grafting . Young spring shoots are used for cuttings, which are cut in May - June. The term for grafting is strictly limited. The rooting capacity of kachima is relatively low compared to other crops, so careful care is required for the cuttings. Particular attention should be paid to watering, as rooting cuttings do not tolerate excessive moisture. Inoculation of cuttings of terry forms is done in spring by spreading on the roots of non-terry forms.

Using:

• Cut Many species retain their decorative qualities in a dried form.
• For flower decoration in combination with other plants, in group and single plantings, mixborders ^[6] .

According to the database of The Plant List (2013), the genus includes 152 species ^[7] , some of which are:

The state of the species Kachim Volga ( Gypsophila volgensis ) is still unknown.

• Tumbleweed

• Kachim // Italy - Kvarkush. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1973. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 11).
• Kachim // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Gubanov I.A., Kiseleva K.V., Novikov V.S., Tikhomirov V.N. Illustrated identifier of plants in Central Russia . - M .: T-number of scientific publications of KMK, Institute of Technological Research, 2003. - T. 2. - P. 138-141. - ISBN 5-87317-128-9 .
• Shishkin B.K. Genus 493. Kachim - Gypsophila // Flora of the USSR : in 30 tons / chap. ed. V.L. Komarov . - M .; L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR , 1936. - T. 6 / ed. volumes B.K. Shishkin . - S. 731-777. - 956, XXXVI p. - 5200 copies.