Silene miqueliana ("Fushigurosenno")

Japanese name: フシグロセンノウ （節黒仙翁）
Scientific name: Silene miqueliana

[Overview]
A perennial 50–80 cm tall, found in forests in the mountains.
The stem is erect, branches in the upper part, and has sparse soft hairs.
The stem nodes are slightly swollen and blackish brown.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate to lanceolate, 5–14 cm long and 2.5–5 cm wide, with entire margins.
The flowers are borne a few at the stem tips or sparsely in dichasial cymes in the leaf axils.
The flowers are vermilion, 5-petaled, with petals opening flat.
There are 10 stamens.
The calyx is cylindrical, 2.5–3 cm long.
The fruit is a capsule that splits into 5 at the top to release the seeds.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by shoot cuttings.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile, slightly moist, well-drained soil.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil becomes severely dry.
In addition to a base fertilizer, place slow-release fertilizer on the soil in spring and autumn.
Pinching the shoots in May–June produces side shoots and increases the number of flowers.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

[Notes]
The nodes are blackish, hence "fushiguro" (black nodes), and it was found at Sen'o-ji temple in Kyoto, hence the name "Sen'o".

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