Lysichiton camtschatcense
At a glance
- Lifecycle
- Perennial (hardy)
- Exposure
- Full sun
- Frost limit
- −23.3 °C
Cultivation
Requires a wet or damp humus-rich soil in full sun or semi-shade. Succeeds in shallow water. Hardy to about -15°c Young plants require protection from slugs. Plants are slow to establish at first, taking some years, but they can then become naturalized and self-sow. Hybridizes with L. americanus.
Propagation
The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in pots in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in trays of water in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in the middle of autumn or mid to late winter, but no later than this because the plant will be coming into growth.
Edible uses
Young shoots - they must be thoroughly cooked otherwise they are poisonous.
Material uses
The plants have very large leaves and form a slowly spreading clump. They can be grown as a ground cover, spaced about 1 metre apart each way.
Habitat
Bogs and wet places, also by ponds and lakes.
Native range
E. Asia - Japan.