Limonium sinuatum (statice, "Hanahamasaji")

Japanese name: ハナハマサジ （花浜匙）
Scientific name: Limonium sinuatum

[Overview]
A short-lived, semi-hardy perennial 60–90 cm tall, often found on sandy ground in its native range.
In horticulture it is treated as an annual.
The whole plant is covered with coarse hairs.
The stem is erect and has 3–5 rows of broad wings.
The leaves are simple and basal, about 10–20 cm long, pinnately lobed to the middle, with wavy margins.
A dichotomously branched cyme at the stem tip bears small flowers densely on one side.
The flowers are five-petaled, white or yellow, but the calyx is colored blue-violet, white, yellow, pink and so on, and is conspicuous.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Uses]
The calyx keeps its color and remains after the flowers have withered, so it is used as a dried flower.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers sunny, well-ventilated, well-drained soil.
It dislikes acidic soil.
It dies when touched by frost, so in winter protect it so that it does not freeze hard.
It is better kept slightly on the dry side; plants in the ground need no particular watering, and potted plants should be watered thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
Too much fertilizer makes it leggy and more prone to disease, so use little; apply a slow-release fertilizer with equal amounts of the three components once in autumn for plants in the ground, and once each in autumn and spring for potted plants.
Pests and diseases include damping-off, aphids and spider mites.

[Notes]
The alternative name Sutachisu comes from the former genus name (Statice).

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