Description
(syn. Polygonatum giganteum)
Polygonatum macranthum is a rare species native to northern Japan said to occur also in parts of Korea.
This is one of the tallest species for garden use (yes there are taller spindly tender ones if you have a greenhouse but …) The arching stems can grow easily to 120 cm and we have seen them at 180 cm in shade. The stems are packed with elongated, deep-green, glossy leaves each up to 15 cm long when the plant is mature. Each leaf node, on the upper part of the stem has a small cluster of up to 4 flowers that hang on elongated stalks. The flowers are slightly bulbous in appearance and up to 2.5 cm long they are white, tipped and marked with jade green. Round, black fruits sometimes follow.
Polygonatum macranthum is a Polygonatum with character. It is stately and is ideal as an accent plant or a focus, if you have a woodsey-spot in a leafy soil in half- or intermittent-shade. A delightfully easy plant to grow, it’s just a tad hard to get hold of. It will need a year or so to establish properly as it needs to get roots down to maintain such a large stem.
