Schizanthus, the “poor man's orchid”: a cousin of the tomato to sow this autumn
An “orchid” that isn't one
Its spotted, wing-like, deeply cut flowers look like little orchids or butterflies perched on the plant: hence its nicknames poor man's orchid and butterfly flower. Yet schizanthus has nothing to do with orchids. It belongs to the Solanaceae, the same family as the tomato, the petunia and tobacco.
Like the pelargonium we call a geranium, or the hippeastrum sold as an amaryllis, it is a plant whose common name is misleading. And it is an easy annual that you can sow now to have pots in flower in spring.
Fact file
| Botanical name | Schizanthus × wisetonensis (S. pinnatus × S. grahamii) |
| Family | Solanaceae |
| Origin of the genus | Chile and neighbouring Argentina, on the southern slopes of the Andes |
| Type | Annual, up to about 50 cm (dwarf varieties 30 to 38 cm) |
| Foliage | Finely divided leaves, cut almost to the midrib, fern-like appearance |
| Flowers | Two-lipped, white, pink, red, purple, often with a contrasting coloured eye |
| Hardiness | Frost-tender (RHS H1C): grow under cover in winter |
| Other names | Poor man's orchid, butterfly flower (EN); orchidée du pauvre, fleur papillon (FR); boerenorchidee, splitbloem (NL) |
The genus has 16 species according to Kew (Plants of the World Online), and between 12 and 14 according to other authors: botanists do not all agree on where one species ends and another begins. The name Schizanthus comes from Greek and means “split flower”, after the deeply cut lobes of the petals.
The schizanthus sold in our garden centres is mostly the horticultural hybrid S. × wisetonensis, the result of crossing two Chilean species. Its name was published in 1900 in the British journal Gardeners' Chronicle, with the annotation hort.: it was gardeners, not botanists, who named it. The exact origin of the name “wisetonensis” could not be verified.
Flowers that “explode” when bees visit
The schizanthus flower is built like a pollinator trap. The central lobe of the lower lip forms a keel, a kind of small hull, in which the two fertile stamens are hidden. When a bee lands and presses on the keel, the anthers are released and fire their pollen all at once onto the insect.
The history of the genus is more surprising still. According to a 2006 Chilean study, the ancestor of the schizanthus was pollinated by bees. But one of the two parents of our hybrid, S. grahamii, switched to hummingbirds, and three species from the Atacama Desert are pollinated by moths. Finally, other species have learned to fertilise themselves.
Growing it
Sow in autumn for a spring in bloom
This is the traditional method of English gardeners, and it suits our climate well:
- Sow in August–September in seed trays or small pots, under cover: a cold greenhouse, conservatory or bright, cool windowsill. Cover the seeds very lightly: sources disagree on whether they need light to germinate. Germination takes one to two weeks at around 17 to 19 °C.
- Prick out into individual pots, then into larger pots as the plants grow.
- Keep cool all winter, frost-free but without heat: schizanthus likes cool conditions (growers aim for around 13–14 °C at night and 16–17 °C during the day). Too much warmth produces soft, leggy plants.
- Pinch out the tips of the young plants once or twice so that they branch.
- Stake with a few twiggy sticks: stems laden with flowers flop easily.
- Flowering in pots in spring, indoors or on the patio once the frosts are over.
Or sow in spring for summer
Sown from February to May at around 16 °C, schizanthus flowers in summer and on into autumn, in pots, window boxes or beds. It flowers about 4 to 5 weeks after the arrival of long days.
What it needs
| Need | In practice |
|---|---|
| Position | Sun or partial shade |
| Soil / compost | Light, moderately fertile, well drained |
| Watering | Regular, generous in dry weather, without leaving the pot waterlogged |
| Feeding | A light liquid feed every week when grown in pots |
| After flowering | Cut back; it is an annual, so sow again the following year |
Which varieties to choose?
- 'Hit Parade': compact, about 30 cm, bright colours, ideal in pots.
- 'Angel Wings' (Angel Wings Group): 30 to 38 cm, bright colours with a golden centre.
- 'Dwarf Bouquet': dwarf, 30 to 38 cm, in a mix of colours.
- Growers also offer 'Royal Pierrot' or the F1 'Atlantis' series.
Catalogues list these varieties sometimes under S. pinnatus, sometimes under S. × wisetonensis: don't be surprised to see both names for the same plant.
Test yourself
Sources
Andersen, A. S. (2019). Schizanthus × wisetonensis. In A. H. Halevy (Ed.), Handbook of flowering (pp. 569–572). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351072588-68
Ball Australia. (n.d.). Schizanthus Atlantis: Cultural notes. https://ballaustralia.com/wp-content/uploads/plant_list/cultural_notes/S/Schizanthus-Atlantis-CN.pdf
Christen, P., Cretton, S., Humam, M., Bieri, S., Muñoz, O., & Joseph-Nathan, P. (2020). Chemistry and biological activity of alkaloids from the genus Schizanthus. Phytochemistry Reviews, 19, 615–641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-018-9598-5
EPPO. (n.d.). Schizanthus x wisetonensis (SZTWI). EPPO Global Database. https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/SZTWI
Flowerdew, B. (2017, July 7). Chilean butterfly flowers. Hartley Magazine. https://hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/chilean-butterfly-flowers/
IPNI. (n.d.). Schizanthus wisetonensis hort. International Plant Names Index. https://www.ipni.org/n/817929-1
Morales-Fierro, V., Muñoz-Schick, M., & Moreira-Muñoz, A. (2020). Synopsis of Schizanthus Ruiz & Pav. (Solanaceae), a genus endemic to the southern Andes. PhytoKeys, 154, 57–102. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.154.49615
Pérez, F., Arroyo, M. T. K., & Armesto, J. J. (2009). Evolution of autonomous selfing accompanies increased specialization in the pollination system of Schizanthus (Solanaceae). American Journal of Botany, 96(6), 1168–1176. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0800306
Pérez, F., Arroyo, M. T. K., Medel, R., & Hershkovitz, M. A. (2006). Ancestral reconstruction of flower morphology and pollination systems in Schizanthus (Solanaceae). American Journal of Botany, 93(7), 1029–1038. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.93.7.1029
POWO. (n.d.). Schizanthus Ruiz & Pav. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:38531-1
Proven Winners. (n.d.). Schizanthus plant culture. https://www.provenwinners.com/professionals/growers/plant-culture/schizanthus
RHS. (n.d.-a). Schizanthus × wisetonensis Angel Wings Group. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/280974/schizanthus-x-wisetonenesis-angel-wings-group/details
RHS. (n.d.-b). Schizanthus pinnatus 'Hit Parade'. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/118972/schizanthus-pinnatus-hit-parade/details
Spencer, R. (2002). Solanaceae. In Horticultural flora of south-eastern Australia (Vol. 4). UNSW Press. https://hortflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/taxon/06fdfc70-ea54-4e13-9341-fe4f883e9f1f
Suttons. (n.d.). Schizanthus pinnatus 'Angel Wings'. https://www.suttons.co.uk/flower-seeds/all/schizanthus-pinnatus-seeds-angel-wings_MH-794