Plant of the day is: Leonurus quinquelobatus or motherwort

Plant of the day is: Leonurus quinquelobatus or motherwort

I don't have a good common name for you on this one because its pretty difficult to find a lot of information on.  Some of the best stuff I can find is here: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30070964#page/135/mode/1up.  

A huge shout-out to the tireless workers digitizing some of these texts.  That is BORING work but so important.  Thank you.

Taxonomy/etc.:  Leonorus is a pretty small genus of only about 25 recognized species in the Lamiaceae or mint family.  It's fascinating (for me) looking back through botanical texts like the above for odd tidbits.  In this one, he/she mentions L. villosus as being an unacceptable synonym for L.quinquelobatus because of a questionable herbarium sample that was garden grown with damaged stems and crisped leaves.  The leaves you see coming out of the inflorescence below generally only show about 3 lobes while the leaves down the steam show the 5 lobed look.  Quinquelobatus assuredly means 5 lobes, in reference to the leaf.

Description:  It's in the description page above.  I have a headache.

Culture/etc:  It's a mint, kinda.  A lot of members of this family tend to be very easy to care for BUT ...be warned.  Members of this family can also be weedy.  L. cardiaca is in fact an introduced species throughout ...most of North America. http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=5923.

Growing a closely related cousin of this certainly raises some caution signs.  

Range:  Soviet Union...ish.  I think.  Harder to find info for this than L. cardiaca.  Drop into a genus with just a couple of well documented species and stuff starts getting difficult.  Of late I've really realized just how MUCH work there is to do in the plant world.  Important work.  Anyways, it might be tough to see this plant but if you keep an eye out on your outside adventures you might just bump into its invader cousin L. cardiaca.

Fun Fact!:  Motherwort because it is used in Chinese medicine and has been used to treat UTI's and the like.  Supposedly has some alkaloids that are nice sedatives to rival Valeriana (valerian).  

Let me google those images for you.

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Credit: Franz Xaver

Sadly not good CC material showing plant in habit or the true leaves. :(.

Plant of the day is: Codonopsis lanceolata or bonnet bellflower

Plant of the day is: Codonopsis lanceolata or bonnet bellflower

Flora Japonica, Sectio Prima (Tafelband) by Philipp Franz von Siebold and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini

United States public domain tag 

Kusumoto Ine

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.

Yasunori Koide Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

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

Qwert1234 CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

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.

Plant of the day is: Eccremocarpus scaber or Chilean glory flower

Plant of the day is: Eccremocarpus scaber or Chilean glory flower

Public Domain!  But to give credit, from Curtis's botanical magazine 1878.  Awesome. 

Sometimes plants just manage to find me.  It's kind of a weird thing, I wind up around one and then again seemingly randomly a few weeks later the same plant will pop up and stick in my head.  This plant of the day gets the nob because it is fairly insistent that I give it it's fair due.

Taxonomy/etc.:  Eccremocarpus is a very small genus with only 3 accepted species.  The other two are E. viridis and E. huianaccapac.  Boy am I glad I'm not doing E. huianaccapac today, just TRY and say that five times fast.  It is a member of the Bignoniaceae or bignonia family.  Nearly all the members of Bignoniaceae are woody except for a few vines and subshrubs.  Eccremocarpus falls into the territory of semi-woody and would be considered a liana or woody climbing vine.  As a fun fact, Bignoniaceae is another of those families that has really benefited from phylogenetic analysis and has been considerably condensed down to about 86 accepted genera.  The family is noted for it's tubular flowers and you can see a member of the family every year in the late spring.  Catalpa trees with their large leaves and white flowers make for quite the show here in St. Louis every year.  I look forward to it next year.

Description:  From Chile!  And Peru too I believe.  A fast-growing, slender, evergreen (where hardy) perennial climber.  It has clinging tendrils (twiner I believe), pinnate leaves, and terminal clusters of tubular, reddish orange flowers.  Flowering occurs nicely from late spring through the fall.  If grown in a hardy environment it will reach an ultimate height of about 3m with a spread of 1-2m but that can take between 2-5 years.  Cultivars of this are available in the horticultural trade, which I'll get into...now.

FarOutFlora CC 2.0

Culture/Usage:  Commonly used as an annual ornamental as it has some very colorful and unique flowers and is not one of the more aggressive vines.  Will reportedly fill out a 2m X 2.5m trellis very well in a growing season (get our your calculators Americans).  It is only hardy at about zone 8 or 15F (I took pity on ya).  It can actually die mostly back to the ground in a season and return if the roots stay warm.  Requires full sun, very full sun.  It likes a lot of light and moist but well drained soils.  Can be overwintered but can attract mites and whiteflies ...which you definitely don't want.  It recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).  Germinates very readily from seed stored upwards of 2 years.

Hort tip:  Pair up with Asarina scandens 'Joan Lorraine' for a fantastic color display.  If you do it, take a picture.  I want to see it.  I bet it's amazing.  You'll be trading in a bit more purple if you do it right because Asarina prefers light shade and you'll lose a bit of Eccremocarpus flowering in lower light.

Super-extra-nerdy-bonus!:  Eccremo = pendant, carpus = fruit, scaber = coarse, rough, like sandpaper

Enjoy!

Michael Wolf CC 2.5 Generic

Plant of the day is: Rehmannia piasezkii or Chinese-foxglove

Plant of the day is Rehmannia piasezkii or Chinese-foxglove

Shizhao  CC BY 2.5

Rehmania sp.

Due to the fact that this is PotDs 50th post, I figured I'd treat you with an upfront and awesome photo.  A great looking flower, with some large and in charge leaves.  Looks pretty fuzzy huh?  Hirsute, we'll call that hirsute.

Taxonomy/Etc.:  Rehmania is a small genus of plants in the order Lamiales.  They are endemic to China.  The genus used to be included in a few different families and as of now seems officially recognized as a member of the Plantaginaceae or plantain family.  No, not that plantain silly, a different one.  The genus is named after Russian physician Dr. Josef Rehmann who was once an ambassador to China (I had to dig for that one).

An interesting fact, the family would normally be Named Veronicaceae as its 1782 reference predates the occurrence of Plantaginaceae in 1789.  Apparently it is a conserved name under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature or ICBN.  Apparently 1789 is the cutoff conservation consideration.  Oh those lines in the sand.  The family in general varies quite a bit in flower structure.  Plantago is that weed in your lawn, perhaps you even several species.  Go find it!

Description:  A perennial that grows about 50cm high by about 60cm wide.  Called Chinese-foxglove because of the resemblance of the flowers to Digitalis or foxglove.  They are closely related actually and now in the same family.  See the full description below.

A fantastic botanical description here: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200021239

Now if you've clicked this and went...whoaaa...what the!?  I sympathize.  Just kind of skim over the terms you don't know, maybe just a Google or two to look up a definition and it's not all that bad.  Some of these terms are fun and well worth knowing, I promise.  Villous = shaggy.  See, it's simple, learning is fun.

Michael Wolf  CC 3.0 Unported

Rehmannia piesezkii

I will say that the leaves of even young plants are QUITE large, they really make a statement.  I've seen descriptions of the leaves as glossy.  Flora of China rightly calls them as villous.  Has purple flowers that occur from May-Sep so it is actually a wonderful garden plant that flowers consistently through the summer.  The much more commonly planted species is Rehmannia elata but I think this would do nicely as well.  

Habitat:  Found on mountain slpes 800-1500m.  Somewhere in China.  Frustratingly difficult to find good documentation on exactly where.  I will likely keep an ear to the ground on this one and come back and add this information when I find it.  

Culture:  Typically listed as USDA hardy to zone 8a or 10b.  This plant MIGHT make it in a very well sheltered site in 7 but zone 6 is pushing it.  That being said, if you can find a warm nook (next to a building maybe?) anything is possible.  I have a zone 8 perennial I've tricked into coming back for the last 3 years, get clever.  It prefers light shade and flowers best under cool conditions.  With that being said, it may actually be well suited for a rock garden if you can find a shadier spot.  The plant does not like to fully dry out but the larger leaves can rot if too wet.  The solution would be to mulch around the plant with stone or plant directly into a rock garden.

Germination:  Even stored seed does fairly well and will readily germ on mist/humid environment after a few weeks.  Seedlings transplant well into larger containers as far as I can tell.  It is a fast grower and once established will really impress.  Will require plenty of space so leaves don't overlap and shade each other out.  

Unfortunately those are about the only license friendly photos that I could rustle up.  This blog here, which is definitely not in English has some great up close photos of the leaves and flowers.

http://www.actaplantarum.org/floraitaliae/viewtopic.php?f=122&t=53946