 |
A recently described species that I got from Gary Dunlop in 2005. The pictures show a purple flowered Roscoea of no particular distinction,
but in the garden the plants have a very characteristic elfin poise. Jill Cowley says: "Roscoea forrestii can be found in Yunnan and southern Sichuan in crevices and on ledges of cliffs, in open south-facing limestone slopes, and amongst dwarf bamboo and shrubs. It grows up to an altitude of 3350m, and flowers from the end of May to July. Roscoea forrestii is named for George Forrest (1873 - 1932) who made many valuable oservations and interesting collections both of living plants and seed." Writing in 'The Plantsman', Richard Wilford says: "A Chinese species from Sichuan and Yunnan, this resembles a small, yellow-flowered R. humeana. The flowers are around 4cm from top to bottom and the plant is generally under 30cm tall. Unlike R. humeana, the leaves are usually well developed at flowering time. The flowers are soft pale yellow (2C) and several can be open at one time, bunched together among the upper leaves." The species was awarded an AGM after trial by the RHS (2008 - 2011) at Wisley. Richard Wilford writes about plnts grown at Kew in 'Roscoeas for the rock garden' and says: "There is a small, sad looking group of this species in the rock garden, that seems to be slowly dwindling. This is probably due to the soil being too dry and it is time to move these plants to a more suitable area. The flowers can be yellow or purple and are produced in early to mid summer. This is a relatively newly described species and is close to R. humeana but the flowers are smaller and the leaves are well developed at flowering time. The peduncle is not exserted from the leaves." |
|
| 29th June 2006 | ||
