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Dicentra peregrina
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. EtymologyThe species name peregrina is Latin for "exotic, alien, foreign, strange, from foreign lands", possibly because the species is the only one of its genus outside of North America.[1] In Japanese, the plant (kusa)[2] is named for the buds, which look like the head of a horse (koma).[3] DescriptionLeaves 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.
EcologyKomakusa grows in Japan, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin Island, and northeastern Siberia, including the Kamchatka Peninsula.[1] It favors gravelly soil at high altitudes, 3,350 m (10,990 ft), in alpine tundra.[4]
Cultivars There are several hybrid cultivars, cultivated as ornamental plants, involving Dicentra eximia, Dicentra formosa, and Dicentra nevadensis.
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dicentra peregrina.  Wikispecies has information related to Dicentra peregrina. |
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