Conandron ramondioides var. ramondioides ("Iwatabako")

Japanese name: イワタバコ （岩煙草）
Scientific name: Conandron ramondioides var. ramondioides

[Overview]
A perennial 10–30 cm tall, growing on damp, shaded rocky places such as along waterfalls and mountain streams.
It has a rhizome densely covered with long brown hairs.
There are 1–2 leaves, borne in a cluster from the rhizome, elliptic-obovate, 10–30 cm long and 5–15 cm wide.
The veins are sunken on the upper surface of the leaf.
The leaf margins have uneven teeth.
The leaf stalk is 3–10 cm long and winged.
Cymes 10–30 cm long arise from the leaf axils and bear 2–30 flowers.
The flowers are about 1.5 cm across, and the corolla is star-shaped, deeply divided into 5 lobes.
The flowers are reddish purple, though pink or white ones are occasionally seen.
In the center of the flower, orange round markings are arranged in a plum-blossom (umebachi) pattern.
The calyx is tinged with white and deeply 5-lobed.
There are 5 stamens, gathered in the center of the flower and surrounding the style.
The fruit is a capsule 10–13 mm long and 2–3 mm wide.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by division, or by leaf cuttings.
Take leaf cuttings in June.
It prefers shade with high air humidity.
It dislikes extreme cold in winter and heat in summer, and direct sunlight causes leaf scorch.
Also protect it from strong wind.
The soil should be well drained and rich in organic matter; use hard Kanuma soil mixed with Kiryu sand, akadama soil, pumice and the like, with sphagnum moss or coconut-husk chips mixed in.
Soil for mountain wildflowers may also be used.
Because it grows in places where water constantly seeps out, stand the pot in shallow water or water from the bottom so that it is always kept moist.
As basal fertilizer, apply a small amount of slow-release fertilizer high in phosphorus and potassium, taking care that it does not touch the roots, and from spring to autumn give liquid fertilizer diluted 2000 times, once a week to twice a month.
Remove spent flowers promptly.
There are almost no pests or diseases, but slugs may appear.

[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from its being found on rocky places and its leaves resembling tobacco leaves.

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