Description
Roscoea cangshanensis is a strong growing species, forming clumps by means of short stolons which is a very unusual feature in Roscoea. It makes 30 cm slender stems clothed in stem-clasping leaves each topped with one or two, 5 cm long violet-pink flowers striped with white. These are borne on long slender tubes. This does not make its appearance, flower, then stop, it keeps flowering on and off from mid-summer to autumn frosts.
Not difficult in a humus enriched soil in sun or part shade and very hardy both in the UK and in continental Europe.
Roscoea cangshanensis was published in 2007 and thus it missed inclusion in Jill Cowley’s excellent monograph though one of the forms of Roscoea praecox mentioned in the monograph bears striking similarities to it. Among other differences, the original Chinese authors Luo, Gao, Zhu and Lin described the species as being related to Roscoea forrestii but different in having a two-lobed lip with each lobe then further divided into two. The base of the lip is noticeably striped with white. These white lines separate it also from Roscoea debilis, along with further differences in lip shape and the shape of the leaf bases.
Propagated from BWJ.7848
(You may see listed listed elsewhere, incorrectly as cangshanense)