Description
(Maianthemum fuscum)
Slender, arching stems of only 30-40cm tall, bear narrow, stalked leaves with hairs on the edges. The top growth is deciduous, vanishing totally in late Autumn only to reappear, afresh in spring.
The upper part of the stem bears a much-branched and widely-spaced panicle of cup-shaped flowers of deep maroon-purple (red when viewed with light shining through them). The very centre is greenish. The flowers are produced from May onwards to July depending on conditions. Purple-red berries follow in Autumn.
Superficially this is similar to Smilacina purpurea, but it is more slender and gracile, with fewer leaves (which usually lack a red edge) and it has flowers with petals unequal in size. The flowers are borne in branched panicles (simple racemes in the related Smilacina purpurea).
This loves a humus-rich, woodland type situation in part shade, but it is a very tolerant plant, and once rooted down it becomes even more resistant to dryness and adverse conditions. In time it makes a nice clump without becoming invasive.
In the wild this is spread across Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and China, in forests and scrub at up to 2500m. in altitude.
