Astilbe chinensis PFAF Plant Database

2 New Books ** Edible Plants: An inspirational guide to choosing and growing unusual edible plants and Woodland Gardening (Forest) [Paperback]. more >>


Search Page Content

Astilbe chinensis - (Maxim.)Franch.&Sav.

Common Name

Family

Saxifragaceae

Synonyms

Known Hazards

None known

Habitats

Damp woods and along shady streams[187]. Open broad-leaved forests, forest edges and amongst shrubs[74]. Forests, forest margins, meadows, valleys and riversides, 400 - 3600 metres[266].

Range

E. Asia - E. China, Japan, Korea.

Edibility Rating

Medicinal Rating

Care

Summary

Physical Characteristics

Astilbe chinensis is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.7 m (2ft 4in) by 0.5 m (1ft 8in).
It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from Jul to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.

Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It prefers moist or wet soil.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Radomil

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Radomil

Habitats
Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Bog Garden;

Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Leaves. Edible Uses: Young shoots[177]. No more details are given.

Medicinal Uses
Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally. None known

Other Uses
A first class ground cover plant, the lower-growing cultivar 'Pumila' is particularly recommended[233].

Cultivation details

Prefers a rich garden soil, but succeeds in most soils so long as they stay reliably moist in the summer[1, 233]. Requires a wet or moist peaty soil in sun or partial shade[187], growing well under shrubs[233]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 to 7[200]. Prefers partial shade[200], especially if the soil is on the dry side[233]. Plants are hardy to about -20°c[187]. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits[233]. There are some named varieties, selected for their ornamental value[233].

Propagation

Seed - we have no details for this species but suggest sowing the seed in a greenhouse in early spring. Only just cover the seed. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame until they are at least 20cm tall. Plant them out in the summer, or late in the following autumn. Division in spring. This is best done every 3 - 4 years in order to maintain the vigour of the plant[200]. Larger divisions can be planted straight into their permanent positions whist smaller clumps are best potted up and kept in a cold frame until they are growing away well.

Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List

You can download this page as a PDF

Expert comment

Author
(Maxim.)Franch.&Sav.

Botanical References
74200266

Links / References

[1]F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956

Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[74]Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR.

An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[177]Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption.

An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[187]Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2.

Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.

Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[233]Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants

A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.

[266] Flora of China

On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

Readers comment

QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.

1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.

2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.

3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.

Rate This Plant
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.

Add a comment/link

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

Subject : Astilbe chinensis

Links	To add a link to another website with useful info add the details here
Name of Site
URL of Site
Details