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Hosta 'Tokudama'
formerly H. tokudama

The Tokudama hostas have been known for a long time in Japan and the plant was taken to England by the plant explorer, Robert Fortune in the mid-1800s. For decades, this hosta was considered to be a species, H. tokudama, but it was reclassified to cultivar status in The Genus Hosta by W. George Schmid (1991). It is correctly known as H. 'Tokudama' today.

This slow growing plant forms a medium size (18 inches high by 44 inches wide) clump of blue-green foliage that is heavily corrugated, slightly cupped with thick substance. This type bears dense clusters of near-white flowers from late June into July.

According to Zilis (2000)"...'Tokudama' can be thought of as a smaller version of H. 'Elegans'."

The New Encyclopedia of Hostas by Diana Grenfell (2009) states: "Keeps its color for longer in shady sites. Very slow to increase...Frequently produces sports. An excellent breeding plants."

In his presentation at the 2019 Dixie Regional Hosta Meeting in Delaware, Mark Zilis stated that after 6 visits to study hostas in Japan, he still feels that H. 'Tokudama' is a species.

An article about H. tokudama by Warren I. Pollock in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) states that, "A possible translation is "advantageously round," in reference to the leaf shape."

Marvin C. Eisel, Hosta Registrar wrote in The Hosta Journal (1985 Vol. 16) that, "In the Fall 1984 The American Hosta Society Newsletter, page 12, I reported that I had registered in the name of The American Hosta Society, the cultivar name 'Golden Sunburst' for the golden forms of H. ' Frances Williams' and 'Golden Medallion' for all the golden mutations of H. tokudama."

Bob Solberg, hybridizer and past President of the The American Hosta Society wrote in The Hosta Journal (1993 Vol. 24 No. 1) that “For H. ‘Tokudama’ to be considered a species we must find a reproducing population of it growing naturally, (“spontaneously”), in the wild; a collector’s garden, even in Japan, will  not suffice…We first find the plant in 1860 in Nagasaki in the garden of Von Siebold…Was it a wild plant, or just a cultivar from the garden? We do not know…Robert Fortune obtained a plant from Von Siebold and took it back to England…Von Siebold brought the rest of the clump back home…From England and Holland it came to America, then into the test tube and now they are everywhere, even shipped back to Japan. All from a single clone, not a population of wild plants but a selected individual. Thus, H. ‘Tokudama’ as pictured by Regel and grown by you and me is a cultivar.”

An article about H. 'Pelham Blue Tump' by Warren I. Pollock in The Hosta Journal (1995 Vol. 26 No. 2) reports that, "Pelham is the name of Dick Kitchingman's home in Dorset, England. Tump is an old English word for a small mound...a small plant with blue-green leaves. It's a 'Tokudama' hybrid."

In a similar article about H. 'Buckshaw Blue' in The Hosta Journal (1996 Vol. 27 No. 1 )Warren I. Pollock says that, "This is a superb hosta that has won several AHS awards: 1980 Midwest Blue Award and 1987 Nancy Minks Award. It is a seedling found by Eric Smith at the Hilliers Nurseries, Winchester, England, and taken by him to Buckshaw Gardens from which it received its name...is considered to be a member of the Tokudama Group. H. 'Buckshaw Blue' is one of the best blue hostas, but be warned: It is very slow growing."

Tom Micheletti, former President of The American Hosta Society in The Hosta Journal (2001 Vol. 32 No. 1) took on the task of listing the "Classic Hosta Cultivars" through the year 2003. He decided to divide these into categories including: Green, Blue, Yellow (Gold, White-Margined, Yellow-Margined, White Medio-Variegated and Yellow Medio-Variegated. No other genus in the plant kingdom has as many blue-leaved variants...Grandaddy of the blues would be H. 'Elegans' . H. 'Tokudama' would be the other parent that has passed along the blue leaf characteristics.

Author of The Genus HostaW. George Schmid wrote in The Hosta Journal (2009 Vol. 40 No. 3) that, "Over the last 40 years I have learned that any plant with H. 'Sieboldiana' or 'Tokudama' in its background cannot stand drought."

Another article by Warren I. Pollock in The Hosta Journal (2014 Vol. 45 No. 1) states that, "...information from Dr. Kevin C. Vaughn...suggests that H. 'Bengee' likely is the pollen parent of the popular 'Sum and Substance'. ..What made 'Bengee' so interesting and desirable in the 1960s, especially to breeders, was it being the first all-gold 'Tokudama' type." Florence Shaw used it heavily as a parent," Kevin recalled."




2 17.5
1975 #11
1985 #24
       












 

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