Hydrangea Pics: Family: Hydrangeaceae

Hydrangea (/ha?'dre?nd?i?/;common labels hydrangea or hortensia) is a genus of 70-75 varieties of flowering plant life local to southern and eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas, and Indonesia) and the Americas. By far the greatest varieties diversity is within eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea. Most are shrubs 1 to 3 meters tall, but some are small trees and shrubs, among others lianas attaining up to 30 m (98 feet) by climbing up trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the cultivated temperate kinds are all deciduous broadly.Having been introduced to the Azores, H. macrophylla is very common now, particularly on Faial, which is known as the "blue island" because of the vast number of hydrangeas present on the island.Life cycleHydrangea flowers are produced from early spring to late fall months; they develop in flowerheads (corymbs or panicles) frequently at the ends of the stems.

Typically the flowerheads contain two types of plants: small non-showy plants in the guts or interior of the flowerhead, and large, showy plants with large bright colored sepals (tepals). These showy blooms are long in a ring often, or to the exterior of the small flowers. Vegetation in outdoors populations have few to none of the showy bouquets typically, while cultivated hydrangeas have been bred and chosen to have more of the larger type flowers.There are two flower arrangements in hydrangeas with Corymb style inflorescens, which include the commonly grown "bigleaf hydrangea"--Hydrangea macrophylla. Mophead flowers are large round flowerheads resembling pom-poms or, as the name indicates, the comparative mind of a mop. In contrast, lacecap flowers bear round, flat flowerheads with a center core of subdued, small blooms surrounded by outer jewelry of much larger bouquets having showy tepals or sepals.

The flowers of some viburnums and rhododendrons can look, initially, very much like those of some hydrangeas.Soil and colors acidityIn most varieties the flowers are white, but in some kinds (notably H. macrophylla), can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. In these kinds the color is damaged by the occurrence of lightweight aluminum ions which can be found or tangled up depending after the soil pH. For H. h and macrophylla. serrata cultivars, the flower color can be dependant on the relative acidity of the soil: an acidic soil (pH below 7), will supply aluminum ions and typically produce flowers that are blue to purple, whereas an alkaline soil (pH above 7) will tie up aluminum ions and lead to pink or red flowers.

This is the effect of a color change of the bloom pigments in the occurrence of aluminium ions which may be taken up into hyperaccumulating plants.[6] Decreasing the pH of potting soils or mixes usually will not change the bloom color to blue, because these soils haven't any aluminum ions. The capability to blue or pink a hydrangea is influenced by the cultivar also. Some plants are selected because of their ability to be blued, while others are bred and selected to be red, pink or white. The flower color of most other Hydrangea species is not affected by aluminum and can't be changed or shifted. Hydrangeas likewise have a nickname called 'Change Rose'.