Sinopodophyllum

Vigorous plants and our hybrids with mainly delavayi as the parent showing more vigor and variation in shape and color than what we associate with known delavayi of wild origin. Whatever the parentage, (I sometimes wonder about my own) these are arresting shade plants for rich moist soil. Red flowers are amazing surprises under the leaves. Persistence of patterned markings are variable and expect fading to varying degrees as the leaves mature. These are all unique individuals which we would be happy to have in our garden. We have offered these earlier as presumptive hybrids and we presume no longer. We will jump on the Dysosma instead of Podophyllum wagon soon.

Second generation plants from our collection from a grassy bank above a stream in Tibetan Yunnan where it was growing in moist rich topsoil at around 10000'. This is a choice herbaceous member of the Barberry Family with rich darkly mottled new growth and broad sharply lobed palmate leaves up to a foot across with a crystalline pink chalice of a flower giving way to large red fruits in fall. Gorgeous moist shade plant to 3' tall although we've seen this same collection at a friend's garden pushing 4' tall. Hardy to Zone 5 and best of all - it's easy. These are very large flowering size plants of a size that is seldom if ever available. Beautiful as a single specimen plant or especially effective in drifts of 50.

Chinese Mayapple. One of the great shade plants with just outrageous new growth when the bold and distinctly lobed leafed are colored in ochre velvet with complex dark patterns like something seen during guided psychotropic therapy. Broadly rounded and lobed leaves shield the red flowers beneath. Rich moist soil and avoid direct sun. This a shorter plant and more richly colored overall than the delavayi we offer as a presumptive hybrid. We will soon adopt Dysosma as the genus - maybe in the winter when we can make all the database changes.

Pretty fantastic selection originating in China but now out of Japan at considerable cost. This Mayapple will develop quite irregularly lobed leaves that are like a psychotropic rectilinear parallelogram awash in pale patterns and dark mottled patterns flashing you back to your youthful experimental phase. Divisions from our plants - not fresh imports. Legal in all 50 states for recreational use with no side effects other than recurrent euphoria.

This is very close to 'Kaleidoscope' and comes from the same Japanese nursery from which a plant was purchased and patented in this country as 'Kaleidoscope'. One has to wonder how a plant already in the trade on an international basis can be patented but that is a discussion that can run long into the night. 'Galaxy' is nearly indistinguishable from 'Kaleidoscope' and may well be a sister seedling or another selection in Japan. Lightly hairy stems hold the pale green leaves with their radially symmetrical chocolate splotches. Red flowers held beneath the foliage but who cares, really? It's all about the leaves. Moist shade and be prepared to be envied.

We remain a bit confused on this one and maybe we can blame it on overwork but mostly there is still no universal consensus on taxonomy in the genus. We originally offered this as P. versipelle subsp. boreale and then Aaron Floden told us that Julian Shaw's recent work had reclassified this into P. mairiei, so we dutifully changed the name. Eventually Darrell Probst saw this and wondered what we were doing, as he collected the original seed from the type locality for versipelle subsp. boreale. These botanical dust-ups, while fun to observe, can be frustrating in getting a broadly accepted name so we're going back with our buddy Darrell on the name.

These are from a superb collection by Darrell Probst from China, which is notable for having over 20 small maroon-mahogany flowers clustered just under the leaf blade. If you have a choice, more flowers makes it easy! This is a striking addition to the shade garden and a moist rich soil will make this very happy, which has a direct positive influence on you. We're pretty sure you won't find this too many other places. We always liked it but now we like it even more!

Fantastic and uncommon variant of this choice species. We received this from a friend's garden where their over-fed plant was 40" tall by 6' in a jaw-dropping patch. Pretty much hated them until they gave us a start. Took Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones and Dan Hinkley over there a few years back and they hated them as well. Flying rectangles of green with small red flowers beneath - who comes up with this stuff?

This genus is undergoing a lot of taxonomic revision causing our brains to difforme trying to come to grips. Rectangular leaves reddish abaxially (underside) and adaxially (topside) a satiny olive-green. Small dark violet flowers held below the leaves. Rare thing suitable for the garden theme of mind-bending plants.

Coveted hybrid Mayapple nearly impossible to find. 'Red Panda' is a seed strain from the O'Byrne's with some variability but this form from Nita Jo Rountree is the best that we have seen. Large copper leaves in spring which become infused with green as the summer wears on and very good red flowers in spring. Moist shade in rich soil = Pandamonium.

Giant Chinese Mayapple. Seed-grown from an exceptional form of Podophyllum pleianthum called 'The Giant' which is notable for its extra large, tractor seat green leaves. In Podophyllum, size definitely matters! This will be an impressive plant in the moist shade garden reaching up to 40" tall with maroon flowers tucked under the leaves. The basic formula for success is food + water = Big Leaves.

Chinese version of this species which gets into the Himalaya as we've seen in Arunachal Pradesh. Softly banded in mocha as the new green leaves emerge, the white flowers show nicely below the expanding leaves. Late summer, round orange fruit appears. A different collection from what we've offered previously.

Podophyllum or Dysosma – the Asian species are better in Dysosma but when shopping, most people look for Podophyllum when they need to push their shade garden over the top.  This Chinese species was shared with us by our friend and great plantsman Darrell Probst who knows an extraordinary plant when he sees it.  Among our sea of Podophyllum species and cultivars, this stands apart in habit, form and flower.  Upright stems hold green lobed saucers of leaves which cannot be confused with the other green-leafed species.  Beautifully displayed are single white flowers under each leaf which when pollinated, morphs into a glowing orange fruit.  For us, this species stays in a tight crown without the running habit of some other species.  This is good if your space is limited and bad if you want more and of course, we want lots!  Which we don’t have but the scant few we do have in surplus, are here.

Seldom offered species and one we had the privilege to see in a very remote area in western Arunachal Pradesh in 2003. Well, Sue saw it as Kelly was confined to bed violently ill and missing this remains one of his great regrets. This originated from friend and plant legend Peter Cox of Glendoick. Pink to white flowers.

Let's be honest if you're growing Podophyllums for the flowers you're probably a misses the forest for the trees type, and don't be fooled the huge multi-pointed star leaves of these are still just as flashy as ever. That being said, we here at Far Reaches tend to be of the more is more, por que no los dos persuasion and the large paler-than-usual flowers of this selection are quite the added bonus. Thanks to Jacques Thompson for sharing this beauty with us!

Chinese May Apple. This is an impressive plant - truly one to give the shade garden some visual impact. Big leaves get up to 18" across with bizarre clusters of red flowers held beneath which are followed by bunches of green cherry tomato-like fruit ripening soft yellow.. Rich moist soil in shade to bits of sun.

Red Panda' was an O'Byrne hybrid seed strain of somewhat variable copper-leafed beauties and we sell the best we have seen of this strain as 'Red Panda'. We've duplicated the cross with similar results and are calling the progeny 'Red Panda Group'. These are good plants and approach the 'Red Panda' clone.

A hybrid from the breeding work of plant fiend Andy Navage, Director of Horticulture at the fabulous Bloedel Reserve. A lovely plant of good vigor, this has deeply lobed large green leaves that are clouded in light dull bronze. The leaf petioles and flower pedicels are hairy and the flowers are light pink.

Our first thought after acquiring this and temporarily satisfying the plant lust monkey on our back, was "Why would anyone want a white-flowered pleianthum?" The flowers are surprising good, that's why. Large for the species and well-formed, with the petals fully expanded and not crepe-paper crumpled- which we enjoy - as is often the case. These are young plants.

From our breeding work with Podophyllum, comes a very vigorous hybrid between a good form of pleianthum and a robust delavayi hybrid. These have large, rather olive-green leaves touched in mottled light bronze especially when young and has red flowers that are well-displayed. This is not flamboyant but has a redoubtable solemnity of purpose and inherent courtliness which has earned our respect.

What madness possessed us to make this esoteric cross between the usual maroon flowered species and the white flowered form? Consequences of a very liberal drug and alcohol policy is perhaps the best guess. Unflowered seedlings which will be either typical maroon pleianthum, typical white pleianthum f. alba or shades in between. We can definitively say the flowers will not be blue.