Tricyrtis propagation

Spring is always an exciting time when fresh plant shoots emerge and the garden springs back to life. Spring is also a very good time to propagate your favourite plants. Not only germinate lots of seeds, softwood and basal cuttings also root easily and quickly from late March onwards as temperatures warm up and daylight hours lengthen.

In my horticultural career I have been propagating many plants. Mostly by cuttings and seed, but I have also done grafting of fruit trees and roses in the summer. However, so far I have only propagated Tricyrtis by division.

Division is one of the easiest propagation methods. It basically splits an existing clump into smaller chunks which then bulk up over the growing season to the same size as the stock plant once was, meaning they most likely will flower in that same season too. In other ways: clones are produced as the genetic material is 100% identical. Quite often this is the most reliable way of propagation, especially when cultivars need to stay true and potential reversions need to be avoided. Taking cuttings achieves this equally by multiplying the same genetic material.

Tricyrtis hirta 'Taiwan Atrianne'

As I visited the RHS garden at Wisley today, I walked through the garden centre on my way out. Their offer of Tricyrtis is rather limited and those that were for sale were only a common selection. Nonetheless I was tempted enough and bought a pot of each cultivar Tricyrtis hirta 'Taiwan Atrianne' and Tricyrtis 'Tojen'.

Generally I refrain from buying plants targeted at the middle class, as the RHS tends to be pricey. On the other hand, customers not only then expect five star quality but also that names and cultivars can absolutely be trusted. The plant quality was indeed superb. Each 2l pot was filled out completely with a very healthy specimen.

Although a pot did cost £8.99, I was able to divide each plant into three clumps so that I ended up with a total bargain. Having bought two pots paying £17.98 at the garden centre, I have now six strong specimen added to my collection. Effectively each pot now only cost me around £3.00 plus a bit of compost for the division.

pot as purchased Tricyrtis 'Tojen'

same plant after dividing Tricyrtis 'Tojen'

And there we are, another addition to my growing collection!

Tricyrtis macranthopsis MASAM. - Liliaceae - Plant Profile

Tricyrtis macranthopsis by eol.org

Authour: Masamune, Genkei (1899-1993)
Synonym: Tricyrtis macrantha subsp. macranthopsis (Masam.) Kitam. or Tricyrtis macrantha var. macranthopsis (Masam.) Okuyama & T.Koyama
Distribution: C. Japan (Kii Pen.) 38 JAP, GPS area 33.73N, 135.38E, Tanabe, Wakayama

Description by Crûg Farm:
Beautiful species from Japan, but is exacting with its demands. Best planted in a raised position, to view the stunning long deep yellow, pendent flowers, which are red spotted internally, carried in the axils of the arching stems from August-November in this variety. Requiring full to part shade, with adequate moisture provided during its growing period, in an acidic to neutral humus rich soil that is well drained. Not surprisingly it is found growing alongside waterfalls in the wild.

To find out more about the original climate of Tricyrtis macranthopsis I looked up climate data of the Tanabe, Wakayama area in Japan. (Data provided by WorldWeatherOnline.com, also with help from climate-data.org)

In Tanabe, the climate is warm and temperate with significant rainfall throughout the year.
Reported min./max. temperatures for the past eight years have been during winter 3°C/7°C and 25°C/33°C for the summer. This concludes to an average annual temperature of 16.8°C in Tanabe. The rainfall there averages 2151mm. Annual humidity varies between 70-90%. This climate is considered to be "Cfa" according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. "Cfa" translates to Humid Subtropical Climate. England is classed as "Cfb" Oceanic Climate with average annual temperatures around the 11°C mark and annual precipitation between 650 and 900mm. Despite the subtropical origin of Tricyrtis macranthopsis, it is considered hardy in most of the UK.

Although its original habitat is located in C Japan the climate seems very similar to the Kyushu, Southern Japanese climate we learned about when looking at Tricyrtis ohsumiensis.

In comparison to the description above, this is a snippet of an original publication of Flora of Japan : in English : combined, much revised and extended translation / by the author of his Flora of Japan (1953) and Flora of Japan, Pteridophyta (1957) ; edited by Frederick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Tricyrtis macranthopsis was first published in 1935 in Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Formosa 25: 251 (1935).

Flora of Japan (1953) - biodiversitylibrary.org

Tricyrtis macranthopsis Masam.
Brachycyrtis macranthopsis (Masam.) Honda; T. macrantha var. macranthopsis (Masam.) Okuyama & T. Koyama Kii-Joro-Hototogisu.
Rhizomes short; stems 40-80cm long, reclined above; leaves distichous, narrowly oblong-ovate, 7-17cm long, 2.5-5cm wide, lustrous above, glabrous, gradually acuminate, cordate and clasping with 2 basal auricles or the lower edges placed on each side of the stems, pale green beneath and subglabrous to sparsely hirsute on the nerves; flowers axillary and terminal, solitary to few, pendulous, 3-4cm long, tubular-campanulate, glabrous; tepals oblanceolate, clear yellow, with brownish purple dots inside, the outer ones with a short spur at base, short-mucronate. Aug.-Oct., Mountains; from Honshu (Kii Prov.); rare, Occasionally planted in gardens.