Japanese name: ホウチャクソウ（宝鐸草） Scientific name:Disporum sessile var. sessile
[Overview]
A perennial 15–60 cm tall, found in woodland.
It has a rhizome and stolons.
The stem is slightly branched.
Leaves are simple and alternate, narrowly lanceolate to long ovate, 4–15 cm long, with entire margins.
At the branch tips, 1–4 white, tubular to tubular-bell-shaped flowers with green tips hang down.
The fruit is a spherical berry about 1 cm across, ripening black.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
As long as the site is well drained and airy, it is not particular about soil.
It prefers a place with sun from autumn to spring and partial shade in midsummer.
For plants in the ground, planting under deciduous trees is good.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground as well, take care that the soil does not dry out, and water thoroughly if the plant looks wilted.
Apply base fertilizer, and also apply diluted liquid fertilizer in spring and autumn.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
[Notes]
The Japanese name compares the shape of the flower to a hotaku, a bell hung from the eaves of a temple.
