From Edie’s garden

Clare’s mom lives next door to a master gardener who has — as one would expect — many beautiful and interesting plants. Today she called me over to see the late-blooming “Tricyrtis hirtas.” From the Missouri Botanical Garden:

“Toad lily is perhaps best known for its unique flowers, ability to bloom in shade and late summer to early fall bloom time. Features small, lily-like flowers (1 inch long) with six showy tepals (similar appearing sepals and petals). Flowers appear in the upper leaf axils and stem ends either solitary or more often in small clusters (cymes) of 2-3 flowers each. White to pale lilac flowers with heavy purple spotting. Arching, unbranched stems grow upright to 2-3' tall. Sometimes called hairy toad lily because all parts of the plant are hairy” http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=282246&isprofile=0&

Interestingly, Missouri Botanical Garden places this species in the “Liliaceae” family while PhytoImages has it in “Melanthiaceae.”

Species page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Tricyrtis_hirta&rank=binomial

This image at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Melanthiaceae_Tricyrtis_hirta_93259.html
Another shot of Edie’s “Tricyrtis hirta,” http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/paraman1/r/Melanthiaceae_Tricyrtis_hirta_93249.html

1 year ago (“Back in the greenhouse”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-10-24
2 years ago (“8-frame day…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-10-24
3 years ago (“New lake. New views.”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-10-24

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[Rick Schies]

Well aren't these pretty