Description
An older Japanese clonal cultivar, Kuro Botan is mentioned in literature going back some years but hardly ever in any great detail, so that its parentage or the original species, seems to be lost or unknown. It has reached the west within the past decade r so and is slowly becoming more widespread. Barry Yinger translated and described this as having a “Succulent, medium sized leaf with good eriawase. Nearly black, bluish-green unpatterned leaf with a polished surface. Irregular uchidashi over leaf surface. Old, strong cultivar“.
Sitting at ground level, in the spring, it makes dark jade- to emerald-green carrunculated flowers with a dark central eye. I think, without being totally certain, that the name Kuro Botan, in fact translates from the Japanese as “Black Button” or perhaps “Black Paeony”.
Our illustration is slightly deceptive and less flattering than it should be as you can see a new, developing leaf, partially cloaking one of the three lobes of the flower.
Cultivation is in a humus-rich, well drained compost, in semi-shade in the garden, or under glass in the alpine house in a deep pot, rather than a pan.
Introduced to our lists in November 2017
