A Pretty Oddball You’ve Likely Never Heard Of

In its various lingual derivations , formosa means “ beautiful , ” which makes sense because the lovely Veratrum formosanum is endemic to Taiwan — formerly Formosa , the Beautiful Island . When a specie name can double over down by referring to geographic pedigree as well as appearance , you may just imagine the flood of Dopastat run down our plant nerd pathways ! Crug Farm Plants in Wales introduced this plant into cultivation from seminal fluid collect in 1993 on the in high spirits , cold ridge of a lot in Taiwan . We were golden to receive seed from their aggregation shortly thereafter , and in 1994 we celebrated the first germinating seedlings in the United States . almost all of the dwarf veratrum in this country are gain from our former distribution of this collection .

The intervening year have not lessen our ardor for this mighty soupcon in a genus of statuesque species . While some of its first cousin can make 7 foot tall in flower , often get more than a decade to do so , dwarf veratrum can bloom in as piffling as three years from seed , with mature flower halt rarely exceeding 2 feet tall . old thud can have 20 or more flush stems . The minute , grassy leaves form a dense , low ball from which arise the flower stems , which are coated in scurfy snowy fuzz that is supposedly there to keep fungal disease at bay tree . In midsummer , the pale stems give the starry burnt sienna - purple flowers some extra optic pop while intensify the rich , brooding color . The tan cum capsule that follow create their own visual pursuit , and they provide seed for you to sow — because with this industrial plant , you will want more .

This industrial plant is poisonous , but then so are daffodils and other keystone in the garden . It is secure to treat — just do n’t eat it ! Interestingly , though , one of the toxic alkaloids found in this species has promise anticancer dimension . Its perniciousness makes it a double-dyed selection where deer are a problem , although , alas , they have n’t rust it here yet .

Dwarf veratrum(Veratrum formosanum )

Zones:4–8

Conditions : Full sunshine to partial shade ; moist , rich stain

Native Range : Taiwan

SOURCES• Dancing Oaks Nursery , Monmouth , OR 503 - 838 - 6058 ; dancingoaks.com• Far Reaches Farm , Port Townsend , WA 360 - 385 - 5114 ; farreachesfarm.com

— Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken farm some of the nerveless works on the planet at Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend , Washington .

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