Tofielda coccinea
I have posted a photo of this little plant before, but I'm reminded today about the plant as the snow receded and revealed the dwarf carex-like evergreen rosettes of foliage. The plant is circumpolar, mostly found in extreme northern latitudes. For all the years I've had it, flowers have never been produced, it just sits there happy to make neat rosettes of prostrate foliage. How do I get it to bloom? I grow it in an open shady location, but maybe it needs full sun in more moist conditions to flower. It's native habitat is: "meadows, wetlands, crevices of rocks or cliffs; 1800-2400 m, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, North America."
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TOCO
Two photos, on the left taken today as the snow receded, and on the right, from last spring. What I like about this plant, it is completely fuss-free, takes moisture or drought, heat or cold, it always looks the same... fresh, neat, green and dwarf.
The flowers are described in Flora of North America as "tepals greenish, tinged pinkish cream to deep crimson". Most photos I've seen show whitish flowers, sometimes tinged pinkish.
Photos:
http://www.arcticatlas.org/photos/pltspecies/spp_enlargement.php?queryID...
...an Alaskan form, this looks like the one to grow, with showy reddish flowers and wider leaves!
http://www.alaskawildflowers.us/Kingdom/Plantae/Magnoliophyta/Liliopsida...
http://www.alaskawildflowers.us/Kingdom/Plantae/Magnoliophyta/Liliopsida...
http://www.alaskawildflowers.us/Kingdom/Plantae/Magnoliophyta/Liliopsida...