Hosta capitata ("Kanzashigiboshi")

Japanese name: カンザシギボウシ （簪擬宝珠）
Scientific name: Hosta capitata

[Overview]
A perennial 40–60 cm tall, growing on moist rocky ground in the mountains and preferring limestone areas.
The leaves form a rosette, are broadly ovate and 7–16 cm long, without gloss, with small projections on the veins on the underside.
There are purple spots at the base of the leaf stalk.
The leaf base does not run down along the leaf stalk.
The flower stalk is erect and has vertical ridges.
The flowers are borne in a raceme, with a bract at the base.
The bracts are boat-shaped and overlap one another to form a head even as the flower stalk elongates; at flowering they spread open, lose their firmness and take on a purple tinge.
The corolla is bell-shaped, purple to pale purple, with 6 tepals 4–5 cm long.
There are dark purple veins on the inside of the tepals, and transparent lines run over the whole flower tube.
The stamens are about as long as the flower tube, and the anthers are not tinged with purple.
Each flower opens in the morning and withers in the evening, lasting one day.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It prefers bright shade and moderately moist soil that is well drained and retains water well.
Strong direct sun in summer can cause leaf scorch, so move potted plants to airy shade in summer, and plant those in the ground under deciduous trees or similar.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless sunny weather continues in summer and the soil dries out.
In spring and autumn, apply organic fertilizer placed on the soil.
Pests and diseases include southern blight, viral disease, aphids and slugs.

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