An article by Dr Ralph (Herb) Benedict
in
The
Hosta Journal (1992 Vol. 23 No. 1) discusses three forms
of H. kikutii brought from
Japan in
the Minnesota garden of Hideko Gowen.
Herb wrote that " ...two H. kikutii plants, each with white
(cream in the spring) margins, were obtained from Watanabe Nursery...in 1988.
Both plants were labeled H. kikutii polyneuron 'Albomarginata'. 'Albomarginata'
is an invalid name. Furthermore, the two plants differ in many ways and came
from two different areas of Japan. I would suggest renaming these plants 'Shirofukurin'
(meaning white-edged) and the area where the plants were found (Shikoku or
Wakayama)...H. kikutii polyneuron 'Shirofukurin
Shikoku'...has long narrow
lance leaves, seven inches long and one and one-half inches wide with ten pairs
of veins and a white edge, one-fourth of an inch wide. The petiole is shorter
than the leaf blade....All three of these plants have wavy leaves and variegated
edges - they are jewels in any hosta lover's garden!"
Mikiko Lockwood in an article on The Hosta Library titled,
A Little About Japanese Hosta Terms defines the term shirofukurin or shiro fukurin as white-edge(d) or
white-margin(ed).
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