Japanese name: キッコウハグマ（亀甲羽熊） Scientific name:Ainsliaea apiculata var. apiculata
[Overview]
A perennial about 10–20 cm tall, growing in slightly dry shade in the mountains.
Slender underground stems creep.
Five to eleven leaves are borne alternately in a ring at the lower part of the stem; they are 1–3 cm long and pentagonal or shallowly 5-lobed.
Both surfaces of the leaves have long hairs.
The petiole is almost twice as long as the leaf.
A raceme or compound raceme at the stem tip bears flower heads.
Each flower head has 3 florets; the florets are white, and the petals are twisted like a pinwheel.
It often bears cleistogamous flowers, and sometimes the inflorescence consists only of cleistogamous flowers.
The fruit is an achene densely covered with hairs and has a pappus.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It prefers well-drained soil; keep it in a place that is sunny in early spring and in partial shade in summer.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
In spring and autumn, apply slow-release fertilizer placed on the soil.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the shape of the leaf to a tortoise shell (kikko) and the flower to a white bear (shirokuma).
