Epimedium platypetalum

Quite an uncommon evergreen species in cultivation from Shaanxi and Sichuan in China possessing an impish charm to which few others in the genus can lay claim. A smaller species with cute rounded leaflets which subtend stems bearing rounded simple flowers which are a soft yellow and quite distinct as they lack the familiar spurs found in many Epimediums. This has an innocence of beauty that taps into that same well of emotion which comes into play when you see a line of newly-hatched ducklings swimming behind their mother. Perhaps the lack of spurs on the flower indicates that this is a more primitive species in the evolutionary development of the genus and as a result, our reptilian "third brain' initiates a deep limbic nurturing response. These are the things we think about at 3 in the morning as we lay awake trying to go back to sleep. Good drought tolerance hardy to zone 5b.