Common name: Bergenia, Elephants ears, Megasea, Heartleaf Bergenia, Hybrid Barberry
Bergenia x schmidtii APNI* Description: Perennial herb to 65 cm high, stoutly rhizomatous, clump-forming.
Leaves in basal rosettes, with lamina ± obovate to elliptic, cuneate or (base of larger leaves) cordate, to 28 cm long, to c. 24.5 cm wide, leathery, slightly fleshy, mid-green above, paler below, glabrous except for marginal small thickenedl hairs (margin appearing minutely toothed); petiole to 17 (-30) cm long.
Flowers pink, mauve or white, bell- or funnel-shaped, to c. 15 mm long, in clusters (cymes) on erect stems rising above the foliage.
Flowering: spring and sporadically.
Distribution and occurrence: commonly cultivated as an ornamental plant in cooler regions; often spreads as a low groundcover; in 2003 recorded as locally naturalised at a site in South Lawson, Blue Mountains. At South Lawson site found growing in nutrient-rich, black fine sand, with Ligustrum sinense, Selaginella kraussiana, Lonicera japonica, Isolepis prolifera, Ranunculus repens and (under weed control) Salix cinerea.
NSW subdivisions: *CT
Very commonly cultivated hybrid in cooler regions of the world. Parents from eastern Asia: Bergenia ciliata × crassifolia.
Text by P.G. Kodela, April 2017
Taxon concept: Australian Plant Census (accessed April 2017)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
|
