| Where the garden meets the wild | |
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DISPORUM & PROSARTES FAIRYBELLS, MANDARIN Liliaceae (Lily family) / Colchicaceae (Colchicum family) |
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Prosartes hookeri in our garden. Photograph © Pat Woodward |
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The flowers of Disporum and Prosartes are dainty bells that dangle in spring at the tips of their leafy branches. Fleshy berries follow in late summer. These are rhizomatous lilies, like Streptopus, Maianthemum, Polygonatum and Uvularia. They thrive in moist, dappled, deciduous woodlands, especially on slopes. They will burgeon in full sun given adequate water and rich humus. Until recently, the North American members of Disporum had a section to themselves: Prosartes. Both the new Flora of North America and the new Flora of China raise Prosartes to the genus level, making Disporum purely Asian. The change is based on cellular, chemical and morphological differences that are mostly invisible to the naked eye. |
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Photograph © G.M. Pradhan |
Disporum cantoniense
(Loureiro) Merrill.
万寿竹
Wan shou zhu
(Chinese).
Clusters of rosy bell
flowers dangle from the branched stems in May-July. They are followed by red-purple
berries in late summer. Native to open deciduous woods and thickets at
elevations from 700-3000 m (2200-9800') in the Himalaya and western China. Our plants are from hardy Himalayan stock. Height 90-150 cm (3-5'). Zone
7.
Not available this season. |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Disporum cantoniense
(Loureiro) Merrill 'Night Heron'. Cream bells; stem and leaves
maroon on emergence, changing to smoky green. Selected by Dan
Hinkley. Zone 6.
$12.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Disporum sessile D. Don ex
Schultes. 南投万寿竹
Nan tou wan shou zhu
(Chinese); ホウチャクソウ
Houchakusou (Japanese). This lovely, rhizomatous Solomon's Seal blooms
in April-May with 1-3 creamy, tubular, green-mouthed bells at the tips of
each stalk. Sometimes the stalks are branched. It carpets low-elevation
woods in Taiwan, Japan, Korea (Cheju and Ullung islands), and Russia (S
Kurile Islands and S Sakhalin). Our stock is of Japanese origin. We keep
forgetting to take a photograph of the flower. Height
15-60 cm (6-24"). Zone 6, perhaps colder.
$8.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Disporum smilacinum A.
Gray. 山东万寿竹
Shan dong wan shou zhu
(Chinese); チゴユリ
Chigoyuri (Japanese). One or two
white bells dangle below the tips of the stalks in April-May; later they
become purple-black berries. Spreading by stolons, this plant forms an airy
groundcover in woods at low elevations in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, the
Kurile Islands and SE Sakhalin in Russia, and NE Shandong province in
China. Our stock is of Japanese origin. Height 15-35
cm (6-14"). $8.00 |
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Photograph © Missouri Botanical Garden
Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Disporum uniflorum
Baker ex S.
Moore. 少花万寿竹
Shao hua wan shou zhu (Chinese); キバナホウチャクソウ
Kibanahouchiyakusou (Japanese).
Also called D. flavens, for the clusters of large yellow bells at
the tips of its stalks in March-June, depending on temperatures. The
berries are blue-black. Native to northern China and the Korean Peninsula.
We offer blooming-sized plants received as seedlings from our friend Jason Nehring, a plantsman of growing repute in
Vancouver, BC. Height 20-80 cm (8-30"). Zone 5.
$10.00 |
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Photograph © Dorrie Woodward
Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Prosartes hookeri
Torrey. Hooker's
fairybells. Formerly known as Disporum hookeri var. oreganum.
Twin green-white bells, about 15 mm (½") long, are
succeeded by
faintly hairy, drop-shaped scarlet berries. Height to 1 m (3'). Native
from BC to California and Montana. Adapted to dappled woodland shade on
slopes of rich duff. Our plants are grown from seeds wild-collected in southwestern BC. In our pictures
at left ~ please click to
enlarge them ~ you see Prosartes hookeri (above) in the wild
near Courtenay, BC and (below) thriving in a box in our garden.
$8.00 |
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Photograph © John Lonsdale |
Prosartes maculata
(Buckley) A. Gray. Spotted mandarin,
Nodding mandarin. Formerly Disporum
maculatum.
Purple-spotted white flowers give way to 3-lobed, rough-skinned, tan
fruits. Native to the southeastern United States, Ohio and Michigan, where
it grows only in moist, deciduous old forests. Zone
5.
Not available this season. |
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| This page was updated March 8, 2008. | |
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