Dicentra peregrina (Japanese コマクサ komakusa) is a herbaceous perennial growing from a rhizome, native to mountains in Japan and nearby areas of East Asia.

Dicentra peregrina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Papaveraceae
Genus: Dicentra
Species:
D. peregrina
Binomial name
Dicentra peregrina
(Rudolph) Makino

Etymology

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The species name peregrina is Latin for "exotic, alien, foreign, strange, from foreign lands", possibly because the species is the only one of its genus outside of North America.[1]

In Japanese, the plant (kusa)[2] is named for the buds, which look like the head of a horse (koma).[3]

Description

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Leaves are gray-green, glaucous, and deeply cut, with linear lobes.

Flowers have four rose-purple, pink, cream, pale yellow, or white petals and two tiny sepals. Outer petals are pouched at the base and strongly bent back at the ends. Inner petals are long and protruding, connected at the end.

Ecology

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Komakusa grows in Japan, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and northeastern Siberia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula.[1] It favors gravelly soil at high altitudes, 3,350 m (10,990 ft), in alpine tundra.[4]

Cultivars

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Hybrid (note wider-lobed leaves)

There are several hybrid cultivars, cultivated as ornamental plants, involving Dicentra eximia, Dicentra formosa, and Dicentra nevadensis.

  • Dicentra 'Candy Hearts' (D. eximia × D. peregrina)
    rose-pink flowers
  • Dicentra 'Gothenburg' (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. peregrina f. alba) – light pink flowers
  • Dicentra 'Ivory Hearts' (D. eximia × D. peregrina)
    white flowers
  • Dicentra 'King of Hearts' – D. peregrina × (D. formosa subsp. oregana × D. eximia)
    pink flowers
  • Dicentra 'Luxuriant' (D. eximia × D. peregrina)
    cherry-red flowers
  • Dicentra 'Tsuneshigo Rokujo' (D. nevadensis × D. peregrina)
    pink flowers

References

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  1. ^ a b Tebbitt, Mark; Lidén, Magnus; Zetterlund, Henrik (2008). Bleeding hearts, Corydalis, and their relatives. Timber Press. pp. 71, 72.
  2. ^ くさ kusa in Japanese Kanji dictionary
  3. ^ Komakusa on japan.travel
  4. ^ Tebbitt, Mark; Lidén, Magnus; Zetterlund, Henrik (2008). Bleeding hearts, Corydalis, and their relatives. Timber Press. pp. 56–58.
  • Bleeding hearts, Corydalis, and their relatives. Mark Tebbitt, Magnus Lidén, and Henrik Zetterlund. Timber Press. 2008. — Google Books
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