Description
Asarum crispulatum was described by Cheng and Yang in 1983 from shaded, mountain slopes in Sichuan, China. It has a ‘vertical’ rhizome, rather than a creeping one, with short gaps between the leaf stems, meaning that the foliage is pleasantly crowded and compact.
The leaves are very decorative with a deep green, shiny leaf blade, in the perfect shape of a heart. The upper surface is marbled with one or two shades of green and is sometimes marked with white blotches which make an attractive leaf look even better.
Below the leaves, on 1 cm stalks are the flowers. These are in the shape of a 3 cm long ‘urn’ with a strongly constricted neck and opening up to a widely spreading, flanged mouth. This is expanded and intricately folded and crinkled in all directions. The flange is olive green and sits around a white and purple-brown centre which is crispulated – hence the name.
Flowering so far has been quite late in the Asarum season. Culture present no difficulties in a lightly shaded spot in humus-rich soil, moisture retentive yet free-draining.
