Ligularia dentata
Encyclopedia
Ligularia dentata, or summer ragwort and leopard plant, is a species
of the genus
Ligularia
and the family Asteraceae
.
It is a perennial native
to China
and Japan
.
Orange-yellow daisy-like flowers bloom on thick mostly leafless stalks, rising above the foliage in early summer.
, chosen as much for its bold foliage as its flowers. It is used as a round leaved accent plant or massed planting in moist sun and partial shade garden settings, and in containers. Cultivars include "Desdemona" and "Othello". Selections with cream color spotted foliage (polka dots) are also grown.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Ligularia
Ligularia
Ligularia, Leopard Plant, is a genus of "Old World" perennial plants or herbs resembling groundsel of the family Asteraceae. Ligularias are rather tall perennial herbaceous plants occurring mostly in damp places in Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of them are cultivated as ornamentals.-Some...
and the family Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
.
It is a perennial native
Native plant
Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic or naturalized to a given area in geologic time.This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Description
The plant is a clump-forming perennial. The dark green leaves are large, long-stalked, leathery, cordate-based, and very rounded.Orange-yellow daisy-like flowers bloom on thick mostly leafless stalks, rising above the foliage in early summer.
Cultivation
Ligularia dentata is grown as an ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
, chosen as much for its bold foliage as its flowers. It is used as a round leaved accent plant or massed planting in moist sun and partial shade garden settings, and in containers. Cultivars include "Desdemona" and "Othello". Selections with cream color spotted foliage (polka dots) are also grown.