Bauera rubioides (river rose, "Erikamodoki")

Japanese name: エリカモドキ
Scientific name: Bauera rubioides

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub 0.3–1.5 m tall.
The branches are slender, much branched and densely hairy.
The leaves are opposite and consist of 3 leaflets, but because they are stalkless, they look like 6 leaves in a whorl.
The leaf margins have teeth and hairs.
The flowers are borne singly on slender stalks from the leaf axils in the upper part of the branches, facing downward to sideways; they are pink with 4–10 petals, and the corolla is a shallow cup shape 1.5–2 cm across.
The anthers of the stamens are yellow.
The sepals are equal in number to the petals.
There are also white-flowered forms.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by cuttings.
It is safest to keep it at 5°C or above for overwintering, so bring it indoors to a sunny place in winter.
It prefers well-drained soil.
It prefers sun, but it dislikes heat and humidity, so during long rainy spells and in midsummer move it to an airy place in partial shade out of the rain.
Water thoroughly after the soil has dried.
Apply liquid fertilizer in spring and autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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