Epimedium grandiflorum ?var hidakoense

[mark smyth]

Does anyone know Epimedium grandiflorum var hidakoense / Hidakoense. The label says Hidakoense. I just need to know what size it grows and where I should plant it

I found nothing on the internet

[TheOnionMan]

Mark, the fact that nothing is found on the internet, not even one hit, tells me that there is either a name corruption or misspelling at hand.  First of all, I find no variety of Epimedium grandiflorum listed that even comes close to this Japanese name "hidakoense", even among synonyms for varieties of E. grandiflorum.  Assuming the name "hidakoense" is a commemorative one, there is indeed a Japanese name "Hideko", but doing a google search or ipni.org name search on simply hidakoense or hidakoensis yields 0 results, thus probably a non-existent Latin binomial.

Once again, assuming that there is a misspelling someplace, I search on other similar Japanese names, such as "Hideo", "Hidaka", "Hideka" and "Hideko"... all are Japanese names.  So then I go to the next step, and google Epimedium hideo, then Epimedium hideoense, then move on to the next possibility, etc.  It seems that googling Epimedium with a unlatinized Japanese name will produce hits, mostly to do with authors publishing on medicinal (aphrodisiac properties) of E. sagittatum and in reference to an outdated binomial E. grandiflorum var. thunbergianum, and other species, but none give clues to indicate taxonomic validity to anything called Epimedium grandiflorum v. hidakoense. 

The drug use of Epimedium, and use of plants in general (in terms of cited taxonomy), is notoriously "loose", with more than just E. sagittatum cited as a species used for an aphrodisiac, kidney and liver health, as many as 15 Epimedium species are so noted.  Web sites I looked at listed their share of silly name corruptions...  not saying this is responsible for the "var. hidakoense" thing, but just one element of the puzzle to be considered.

I must conclude that the name is a corruption or misapplied citation.

[tetsuo]

Hi
It seems to be the misspelling of Epimedium grandiflorum var. higoense.
Higo is the old name of Kumamoto prefecture in Kyusyu in Japan.
It flowers in white color with 15-20cm height.
Recently E. grandiflorum var. higoense is classified as E.grandiflorum var.grandiflorum.
Another variety is E. grandiflorum var.thunbergianum.
We Japanese call it "Higoikarisou" and loves its flower.
 
      Tetsuo   Nakazato   

[WimB]

Hi
It seems to be the misspelling of Epimedium grandiflorum var. higoense.
Higo is the old name of Kumamoto prefecture in Kyusyu in Japan.
It flowers in white color with 15-20cm height.
Recently E. grandiflorum var. higoense is classified as E.grandiflorum var.grandiflorum.
Another variety is E. grandiflorum var.thunbergianum.
We Japanese call it "Higoikarisou" and loves its flower.
 
      Tetsuo   Nakazato   

Hi Testuo,

Do you know why the name changed from var. higoense to var. grandiflorum? Was it first described as var. grandiflorum?


@ Mark S., You should plant it in the shade, good drainage is important if you plant it in a wet spot; it will also tolerate dry shade.
There are three cultivars I know of in that variety: 'Saturn', 'Bandit' and 'Confetti': all equally beautiful and quite small plants.

[tetsuo]

Hi Wim
It was first described as E.grandiflorum Morren var. higoense T. Shimizu.
E.grandiflorum var.grandiflorum was the name of Epimedium that grows
in Shikoku and Kii .
Those varieties were first discriminated with the difference of the hair of the leaves.
But botanists in Japan  conclude they are the same variety recently.
So there are 2 var. of E.grandiflorum, var. thunbergianum and var.grandiflorum.

[mark smyth]

Thanks for the in put everyone. I will label it properly and plant it in my woodland garden

[mark smyth]

It's always amazing what Scottish Rockers know.

[TheOnionMan]

It seems to be the misspelling of Epimedium grandiflorum var. higoense.
Higo is the old name of Kumamoto prefecture in Kyusyu in Japan.
It flowers in white color with 15-20cm height.
Recently E. grandiflorum var. higoense is classified as E.grandiflorum var.grandiflorum.
Another variety is E. grandiflorum var.thunbergianum.
We Japanese call it "Higoikarisou" and loves its flower.
 
      Tetsuo   Nakazato   

Hello Tetsuo, interesting about what you say about E. grandiflorum reclassification.  Do you know if this applies to just the species as it occurs in Japan, or whether authors recording the species for the flora in Korea and China (Manchuria) also adopt these changes? Can you tell us what separates E. grandiflorum var. grandiflorum (syn. E. g. v. higoense) and E. grandiflorum var.thunbergianum?  I am not familiar with what characterizes var. thunbergianum.

There are many other variety names, that have gone in and out of synonymy.  There is also the 2002 reclassification by Stearn that resolved the confusion between E. grandiflorum f. flavescens and E. grandiflorum var. koreanum, the latter elevated by Stearn to Epimedium koreanum to describe rhizomatous plants from Korea and China.  As of now, E. koreanum is still in the Flora of China Checklist, (TROPICOS - Flora of China Checklist - 05 Aug 2010), Epimedium koreanum Nakai (syn. E. grandiflorum ssp. koreanum (Nakai) Kitam.

And then I wonder about E. grandiflorum f. violaceum, and E. grandiflorum var. coelestre (this is a pale yellow flowered alpine form).  From the Tropicos.org site, I made a screen-capture of the various Epimedium grandiflorum variety names (see image below), and I wonder about one named E. grandiflorum var. heterochroum Y. Hayashi, named as recently as 1997... do you know anything about this one?
http://www.tropicos.org/NameSubordinateTaxa.aspx?nameid=40004227

Tetsuo, thank you so much for your help on this, I find the detective work on botanical classification (and reclassification) to be fascinating.  Often these issues of classification are a never ending story.