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A plant introduced from Japan, and being circulated as a cultivar. In Japanese the name means "Toad Lily"
, which is simple and accurate, but possibly a little generalised. I bought it from Fir Tree Farm Nursery and it seems to be a selection
of T. formosana or a hybrid, with strongly coloured outer tepals and pale spots. Although there is room for confusion both pictures and plants
I have seen in other gardens seem to be the same thing. In a letter to the RHS in 1997 Barry Yinger says: "The article 'Tricyrtis at Rosemoor' (The Garden September 1996, pp536-9) perpetuates a common error. There is no cultivar of Tricyrtis correctly bearing the name 'Hototogisu'. this word is the general colloquial Japanese name for Tricyrtis and is invalid as a cultivar name. The plant named in the article is, I believe, the Japanese hybrid cultivar 'Seiryu'." Pan Global Plants say: "An erect Japanese perennial best suited to reasonably moist soil in partial to full shade, with foliage spotted when young. The 75cm stems are topped with complex pale-mauve, lightly speckled flowers in late summer. Hardy. Hototogisu is the Japanese name for the Lesser Cuckoo, though some other nurseries in the UK will try and tell you different!" There is room for both to be correct. Wikipedia says: "Tricyrtis hirta (Hototogisu-sou), the toad lily or hairy toad lily, is a Japanese species of hardy herbaceous perennial plant in the lily family Liliaceae." |
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| 23rd July 2005 | ||
