g-l-o-x-i-n-i-a
GLOXINIA A tropical flowering plant with velvety leaves and bell-shaped blooms; member of the Gesneriad family native to Brazil. Worth 16 points in word games.
16
Points in Scrabble
Base tile values • No multipliers applied
Gloxinia represents the intersection of botanical beauty and linguistic value—a word that blooms both in gardens and on game boards. These spectacular flowering plants, with their trumpet-shaped blossoms in vibrant purples, reds, and whites, have captivated gardeners since their introduction to European cultivation in the 1700s. Named after Benjamin Peter Gloxin, an 18th-century German botanist, these tropical treasures transform windowsills into miniature rainforests.
Native to Brazil's Atlantic Forest, gloxinias (Sinningia speciosa) thrive in the humid understory, developing their characteristic velvety leaves to capture filtered light. Modern hybrids produce flowers up to 5 inches across, blooming for months under proper care. The plants grow from tubers, entering dormancy after flowering—a cycle that mirrors their natural habitat's wet and dry seasons. This dormancy makes them ideal for gardeners who appreciate plants with built-in rest periods.
In Victorian flower language, gloxinias symbolized love at first sight, their dramatic blooms representing instantaneous passion. Today, they remain popular as houseplants and gift flowers, particularly for Mother's Day and Easter. The breeding of gloxinias has produced remarkable varieties: doubles with ruffled petals, bicolors with contrasting edges, and miniatures perfect for terrariums. Their care requirements—bright indirect light, consistent moisture, high humidity—make them excellent indicators of indoor growing conditions.
For Scrabble enthusiasts, GLOXINIA exemplifies the power of botanical vocabulary. The high-value X (8 points) combines with common letters to create an 8-letter bingo opportunity worth 50+ bonus points. Smart players cultivate botanical knowledge alongside their gardens—flower names like GLOXINIA, PETUNIA, and BEGONIA offer excellent scoring potential. The word's structure allows various hooks and extensions, while its uncommon usage catches opponents off-guard. Memorizing plant names provides a blooming advantage in competitive play.
GLOXINIA derives from Benjamin Peter Gloxin (1765-1794), a German physician and botanist who studied at the University of Erlangen. The botanical Latin suffix "-ia" was added to create the genus name when French botanist Charles Plumier first described these plants. Originally classified as Gloxinia perennis in 1753, the popular houseplant was later reclassified as Sinningia speciosa, though the common name "gloxinia" persisted. This naming confusion reflects botany's evolving taxonomy—the original Gloxinia genus still exists but includes different plants entirely, demonstrating how common names can outlive scientific reclassification.
•GLOXINIA is an 8-letter bingo word—using all tiles earns 50 bonus points plus the valuable X
•Brazil's Atlantic Forest, gloxinia's native habitat, has lost 93% of its original area to deforestation
•A single gloxinia plant can produce over 20 flowers in one blooming cycle with proper care
"The gloxinia's velvety purple blooms lasted for three months on my grandmother's windowsill."
"Victorian gardeners prized gloxinias as symbols of love at first sight in their conservatories."
High-value words with X or 8-letter bingo opportunities:
Total base points: 16 (Scrabble)
Vowels: 4 (O, I, I, A) | Consonants: 4 (G, L, X, N)
Practice unscrambling letters to find more high-scoring words like GLOXINIA