| Where the garden meets the wild | |
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PARIS, DAISWA & KINUGASA PARIS Trilliaceae (Trillium family) 重楼属 Chong lou shu |
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Daiswa polyphylla. Photograph from Wild Flowers of Tibet. |
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Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa, native to temperate Eurasia, are closely related; they make a handsome understorey and fascinating specimen plants. Like their better known cousin Trillium, they have leaves in a single whorl below a flower in two whorls; again like Trillium, they are rhizomes adapted to damp part shade, preferring deciduous woods that are open in early spring and grow shadier as the trees leaf out. Unlike Trillium, however, whose parts are usually in threes, Kinugasa has parts in threes or more while Paris and Daiswa have parts in fours to elevens. Also unlike Trillium, in the others one layer of tepals is often threadlike. How do Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa differ? Every authority says they are different, though some prefer, even so, to call them all Paris. The Flora of China is among these. But a very good case for separate genera is made in a paper on the family Trilliaceae co-written by our friend Susan Farmer; download the .pdf and see what you think. Among other differences, Paris and Daiswa are diploid while Kinugasa is octuploid. Daiswa has an ovary with one chamber while Paris and Kinugasa have four or more chambers. While you are thinking about where to put Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa in your garden, you might want to look at Trillium, too. |
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Photograph © James W. Waddick
Photographs © Paige Woodward |
Daiswa
polyphylla Rafinesque.
七叶一枝花 Qi ye yi zhi hua
(Chinese). Also called Paris polyphylla. This is a widespread species native,
with many variations, across China, Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar (Burma),
Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand and Vietnam. Height
to 100 cm (40"). At left you see it in China's Sichuan province
(top) and in our garden. Our plants, of W Himalayan origin, are
definitely hardy in Zone 6. Their seeds ripen in November.
Rhizome. $12.00 |
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Photographs © Paige Woodward
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Kinugasa
japonica
(Franch. & Sav.) Tatew. & Sutô. Also called Paris
japonica. キヌガサソウ属
Kinugasasou (Japanese, "canopy
plant," a reference to the umbrella-like ceremonial canopy held over
the emperor in former times.) Native to open woods in the mountains of N
Japan, this very choice plant is the only member of its genus. A large,
showy white flower blooms in May-August on a pedicel rising from a whorl
of broad, pointed leaves. A purple berry follows. Mature plants can be
almost 100 cm (40") tall. Kinugasa needs dappled shade
and deep, slightly acid, organic soil that is constantly moist yet
well aerated and free-draining. In the wild, large populations are found
on slopes. Like some of its Trillium cousins, Kinugasa
may sulk underground for a year or two after the shock of being
transplanted. We
offer blooming-size rhizomes from
cultivated Japanese stock. Here you see Kinugasa blooming in our
garden for the first time in May 2008. Zone 6, perhaps colder.
Rhizome. $75.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward
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Paris quadrifolia Linnaeus.
Herb Paris; True Love.
四叶重楼 Si ye chong lou
(Chinese). Wonderful massed, this rhizomatous perennial has four leaves in two opposite pairs. Its whorled
flowers ~ four yellow-green outer tepals and four threadlike inner ones ~
bloom in April-June and are succeeded by a dark blue berry. This species is native to much of Europe and Asia,
including Russia (Siberia), Mongolia and the Chinese provinces of
Heilonjiang and Xinjiang. Our plants descend from material collected near
Modave, Belgium, by Jeannine and Michael Hoog in 1979. Height 15-25 cm
(6-10"). Zone 6 for sure; probably hardier (we have received a note
that it is hardy in Hungary in Zone 5a).
Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $12.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Paris
tetraphylla A. Gray. ツクバネソウ
Tsukubanesou (Japanese,
"opposite feather flower, shuttlecock flower"). Woodlander native to Sakhalin
Island and Japan. Four green leaves in opposite pairs are topped by a
whorled flower made of green outer tepals and slender,
"feathery" inner tepals that match the yellow stamens in
color. Height to 40 cm (16"). Zone 6, perhaps colder.
Rhizome (Fall shipping only). $12.00 |
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| This page was updated May 21, 2008. | |
