EVERGREEN

Plant Encyclopedia

Coptis ramosa

Coptis ramosa ("Ogokayoren")

Japanese name: オオゴカヨウオウレン (大五加葉黄蓮)
Scientific name: Coptis ramosa

Coptis ramosa

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 5–13 cm tall, found in sugi (Japanese cedar) forests on Yakushima, preferring moss-covered fallen trees and rocks along valleys.
It reaches 30 cm in height at the fruiting stage.
The rhizome is thick, short and somewhat erect, and does not produce stolons.
The leaves are basal and palmately compound with 5 or 3 leaflets; they are thick and leathery, with a glossy surface and conspicuous veins.
The leaflets are obovate to rhombic or ovate, with a wedge-shaped base narrowing, 3-lobed at the top, with sharp serrations on the margin; the leaflet stalks are indistinct.
The petiole is 3–12 cm long.
The flowers are borne 2–4 in a raceme or solitary at the tip of a purplish brown flower stalk, white, 1.2–1.6 cm across, with 5 conspicuous petal-like sepals radiating outward.
The petals are small and yellow, spatulate, with a hemispherical, deep limb.
There are many stamens.
The bracts are narrowly ovate and gradually pointed at the tip.
The fruits are stalked follicles 0.6–1.2 cm long, arranged in a ring.

Details

Names
Japanese: オオゴカヨウオウレン(大五加葉黄蓮)
Life form
Perennial
Evergreen / deciduous
Evergreen
Habit
Terrestrial
Flowering season
February, March, April, May
Distribution or origin
Japan (Yakushima)
Height
50–300 mm
Leaf shape
Palmately compound leaf
Leaf arrangement
Basal
Leaf margin
Serrate
Inflorescence
Solitary
Flower color
White
Flower diameter
12–16
Leaf color
Green
Designated plants
Endemic to Japan

Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.

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