Gazania. Republic of Mari El

Mari El is endless forests, free fields and flowering meadows. Here you can see a great variety of flora - from lily of the valley with honeydew to chamomile with cornflower.

Mari people have been cherishing and respecting flowers since ancient times. Until the 20th century there was a tradition not to pick flowers for bouquets. Plants were collected only for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, carefully preserving nature. Even the main national Mari holiday has a "floral" name - Peledysh Payrem (translated from the Mari language it means "holiday of flowers"). For the Mari people, this special day symbolizes the spring-summer rebirth of nature. Mari poets and writers used the images of flowers to praise their beloved, calling them "peledysh" (flower), "osh peledysh" (chamomile), "sandalvozh" (lily of the valley).

One of the plants presented by the region at the RUSSIA EXPO is gazania, a sun flower that blooms only in sunlight; in the shade, the bud is closed. The choice of the flower is connected with the national symbol of the Mari people - the sun (in Mari language "Keche"). It is present in the national ornament and is a sign of good, giving life to all living things on earth, as well as a symbol of fertility and protection.

Gazania is a perennial plant, but in the conditions of the Republic of Mari El it is cultivated as an ornamental annual. The flower was first cultivated on the African continent - in Mozambique, from where it migrated to the Eurasian continent. Therefore, the plant is often called "African chamomile". Botanical name, presumably, is given in honor of the Greek scientist Theodorus Gaza. Another version of the origin of the name is from the Latin word gaza, meaning "treasure", which alludes to the golden-colored flowers of many gazania varieties.

Gazania is a low-growing species, not exceeding 25-30 cm. The leaves are gathered in a rosette at the root. The inflorescence has the form of a basket. Flower stalks are long, the color of flowers is varied - yellow, orange, white, red and brown. It prefers sunny places, moderate moisture, light soils. African chamomile is a heat-loving plant that does not tolerate low temperatures. It is planted in February-April, transferred to the open ground in May, when the threat of frost has passed. Gazania blooms throughout the summer - from June to September.

The plant is widely used in landscape design as a living border, on the garden beds, rocky slides, in vases in combination with other types of plants. Inflorescences last 3-5 days in a bouquet.