Matthiola incana seed Violet
LATIN NAME: Matthiola incana
COMMON NAME: Stock, Brompton Stock, Hoary Stock, Gillyflower
The stock is a sweet and old-fashioned flower of the summer garden, and its fragrant spikes of bloom have been loved for centuries. It grows as an erect, annual or biennial plant, reaching up to seventy-five centimetres, with narrow, grey-green, softly hairy leaves and, through the summer, upright spikes of many small, four-petalled flowers, in white, pink, purple, red or cream, with a rich, spicy, clove-like fragrance, especially in the evening. It is a native of southern and western Europe, and it has been grown as a garden flower for a very long time, prized for its fragrance and for the beauty of its spikes, while it is also a favourite of the cut flower garden.
The stock belongs to the cabbage family, Brassicaceae, and it is a species of flowering plant native to southern and western Europe. Its common names include Brompton stock, common stock, hoary stock, ten-week stock and gillyflower, and it is grown for its fragrant spikes of flower.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The stock has a genuine and growing place in both horticultural and botanical research. It has been studied in horticulture, since it is one of the most beloved of the old-fashioned garden flowers, prized for its rich fragrance and its beautiful spikes, and researchers have examined its cultivation, its breeding and its many varieties, while the double-flowered forms, which are produced by careful selection, have been of interest, and the stock has a long history as a cut flower and a garden favourite. The plant has also been studied in botany, since it is a member of the cabbage family, and researchers have examined its classification and its relationships within the genus Matthiola, while its fragrance has been studied for its chemistry. The species has also been studied in the research on flower scent, since its clove-like fragrance has been examined. For a flower of such sweet fragrance, the stock has a steady and growing record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the stock is a generous plant of the summer garden. Its fragrant flowers feed bees and other pollinators, and its soft, leafy growth gives cover, while it has brought its sweet perfume to the gardens of Europe for centuries.
Its economic value is real. It is one of the most valued of the old-fashioned garden flowers, prized for its fragrance, and it is a favourite of the cut flower garden, while its many varieties are raised by the nursery trade, and its fragrant flowers are also used in the making of perfumed products. For a grower, the stock is an easy and rewarding flower, and for a gardener it brings fragrant spikes of bloom through the summer. The seeds are easy — sow them in a pot of moist, free-draining compost in spring, keep them in a sunny spot and water them gently, and they’ll sprout within a couple of weeks, growing on into fragrant, flowering plants.
flower color: Black white red purple