Description
( A. senku-insularis, Heterotropa senkakuinsulata,)
A lovely, evergreen Asarum with very thick, shining, deep green, pointed, heart-shaped leaves held on rigid, quite short, smooth, pink stems. Below, more or less at ground level, sit good-sized flowers in Spring. These are triangular in outline and have a background colour of pale fawn, heavily overlaid with burgundy-red speckling. The petals edges are notably covered with fine hairs. Deep in the throat the flower becomes dark, solid burgundy.
A rare plant known only from one small island (Uotsuri) in the Senkaku Islands, a group of 5 or so islets controlled by Japan in the East China Sea. These islands are situated to the east of Mainland China and the northeast of Taiwan. The islands are disputed between both China and Japan and between Japan and Taiwan.
Considered critically endangered in Japan, however this may result to a paucity of information from these uninhabited, undeveloped and contentious islands. These are long-cultivated plants originally from a specialist nursery in Japan.
In keeping with its southerly wild home, this is one that likes warm cultivation, to give its best. A pot of fertile, loam-based leafy compost is best and keeping it under glass, even alpine glass gives the best results. One of our rarest Asarum.
