Plant of the day is: Codonopsis lanceolata or bonnet bellflower
Flora Japonica, Sectio Prima (Tafelband) by Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini
If there are any other plant nerds reading this, maybe you noticed the name Siebold. Does sieboldii sound familiar? :). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Franz_von_Siebold Absolutely worth a click, and if you want a REALLY interesting story, also click on his daughter Kusumoto Ine, a fascinating Japanese physician.
Now, on to the plant stuffs!
Taxonomy/etc: Codonopsis is a relatively small genus occurring throughout Asia, with several species endemic to China. The Wiki page actually does a really good job noting the habitats of the various species. A member of the Campanulaceae family with it's bell-shaped flowers and fruits that are berries or capsules. This family has seen some work of late with at least two genera Gadellia and Symphyandra being shuffled into Campanula. Notable members of the family include the always awesome Platycodon (balloonflower), Campanula (bellflower) and Lobelia. For an extremely endangered and also extremely awesome plant, I recommend checking out Nesocodon mauritianus one of only 3 red nectar producing flowers in the world.
Description: Occurring in eastern Asia, this perennial twining vine can grow to 5m tall and 1-2m wide. Twining means that it just wraps its stem around stuff and goes about growing unlike a vine with tendrils (grape) or aerial roots (poison ivy). Flowers are greenish, nodding, and bell shaped and can have some neat looking violet spotting on them. Leaves are elliptic-ovate and clustered at branch ends. For a good botanical definition, the filaments are subulate or slider and tapering to a point; awl-shaped. Which ...then you need to know what awl-shaped is. Just can't win eh? :) Fantastic botanical description through Flora of China here: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=610&taxon_id=200022912
Culture: Can be grown similar to Clematis on a trellis. Full sun to part shade. Although it may be the lateness of the growing season I am seeing some slight interveinal chlorosis on some of the leaves, it may want a little lower pH soil or a heavier nutrient feed. Keep an eye out. It is only hardy to about zone 6 and will die back to the ground each winter. Here in St. Louis we toe the line from 6a to 5b on any given winter so I would suggest locating in a sheltered spot and mulching well for the fall. A plant probably better suited slightly south of us with a milder winter. Not difficult to germinate from seed and I would be curious to try some various types of layering on it. Purdue Guide to Layering
Fun stuff: The roots are actually a common element in Korean cooking. It's close relative C. pilosula is an important medicinal herb in traditional Chinese medicine.
That's all for now folks,
Enjoy.
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