Rank Species | Subfamily Fumarioideae Scientific name Dicentra peregrina | |
 | ||
Similar Dryas pentapetala, Fringed galax, Anemone narcissiflora, Lagotis glauca, Dicentra | ||
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.
Contents
Etymology
The species name peregrina is Latin for "immigrant", possibly because the species is the only one of its genus outside of North America.
In Japanese, the plant (kusa) is named for the buds, which look like the head of a horse (koma).
Description
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
Komakusa grows in Japan, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and northeastern Siberia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula. It favors gravelly soil at high altitudes, 3,350 m (10,990 ft), in alpine tundra.
Cultivars
There are several hybrid cultivars, cultivated as ornamental plants, involving Dicentra eximia, Dicentra formosa, and Dicentra nevadensis.
rose-pink flowers
white flowers
pink flowers
cherry-red flowers
pink flowers