Description
(syn. thunbergii urashima Shirokasuri)
An elegant dwarf Japanese species(with naturally small tubers) which makes its good-sized spathe quite close to the ground. The wild form of this is variable but it usually pale to almost white speckled with purple-brown at the base, darkening to purple at the very flared mouth. The two regions being connected with lines of purple dots. The spathe wraps around an elongated chocolate spadix that winds up and out of the spathe and finally makes its way down to the ground.
This is a distinct Japanese cultivar, selected originally for having a largely pale background with greyish stems and a darker colouration around the mouth of the spathe tube, an appearance enhanced by the extra contrast between the colourings. The Japanese symbols for this form translate as “white cloth”. (the pinkish tinge of the spathe in our pictures is caused by light shing through the plant tissue, it generally looks paler).
It originally came from the Kishu region around Osaka and Kobe on Honshu
Thrives in the garden, in a light, leafy soil preferably in half-shade and hardy here.
Introduced to our lists October 2022
