(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry, Variegated Japanese Ardisia)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'Variegata' has whorled gray-green leaves with creamy white, slightly scalloped margins. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Japanese Ardisia, Marlberry, White Caps Japanese Ardisia)

Marlberry is a low, suckering, evergreen shrub native to East Asia. The cultivar 'White Caps' has whorled glossy dark leaves with creamy white, slightly indented margins. Pale pink summer flowers give rise to clusters of bright red berries in fall and winter.

Marlberry does best in shade and humus-rich acid soil. It makes an excellent ground cover, foundation plant, or potted specimen.

(Dwarf Sugar Palm, Formosa Palm)

Valued for its large, lush, tropical leaves and its remarkable cold hardiness, this small clump-forming palm is native to moist forested slopes in Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. Its stems are monocarpic, each individual trunk dying after it flowers and fruits.

The enormous, feather-like, upright fronds are borne atop short slender trunks clothed with black hairy fibers. Each frond comprises numerous long narrow blade-shaped leaflets, paired along a midrib (or "rachis"). The stiff leaflets are...

(Sugar Palm)

A stately palm with immense fronds and a tall, shaggy trunk, this Indonesian native has long been cultivated in Southeast Asia for its sweet sap and tough fibers. A monocarpic plant, it dies after it flowers and fruits.

Borne on sturdy, fiber-coated leaf stems ("petioles"), the enormous, upright, evergreen fronds can be as long as a small bus. They cluster atop a solitary trunk that is densely thatched with gray or black burlap-like fibers and armed with thin, woody, skewer-like spines. Each...

(Amur Jack-in-the-pulpit)

Arisaema amurense is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to Northeast Asia. In late spring, it bears a purple- and white-striped spathe with a green spadix, overtopped by one or two large, spoked, compound leaves. Bright red berries ornament the spadix in fall.

This plant prefers moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil and partial shade. It makes an excellent addition to a shade garden.

(White-spathed Jack-in-the-pulpit)

One of the last herbaceous perennials to emerge in spring, Arisaema candidissimum is a tuberous aroid native to western China. In early summer it bears a white spathe with pink or pale green stripes, enclosing a greenish spadix. The flowers are sweetly fragrant. Large, handsome, three-lobed leaves accompany the flowers. Fruiting rarely occurs in cultivation.

Plant in full sun to partial shade in a moist, well drained soil. It is one of the most striking plants for the shade garden.

(Green Dragon)

Arisaema dracontium is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America. In mid-spring it bears a narrow, cupped, green spathe, from which a long yellowish green spadix protrudes like a dragon's tongue. A large compound leaf with 7 to 19 leaflets overtops the spathe and spadix. Bright red berries ornament the spadix in late summer and fall.

This plant prefers moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil and partial shade. It makes an excellent addition to the woodland garden.

(Japanese Jack-in-the-pulpit)

Arisaema ehimense is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to the island of Shikoku, Japan. In late spring it bears a green- and white-striped spathe with a purple or pale green spadix, accompanied by two large compound leaves. The spathe has a long tail-like appendage at its tip. Bright orange berries ornament the spadix in late summer and fall.

This plant prefers moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil and partial shade. It makes an excellent addition to a shade garden.

(Cobra Lily)

Arisaema ringens, the Japanese cobra lily, is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to East Asia. In early spring two large glossy trifoliate leaves emerge, overtopping a cobra-like "flower" that comprises a pale green, purple- or white-striped, hood-like spathe and a club-shaped spadix. A purple-mottled sheath surrounds each leaf stem. Bright orange berries ornament the spadix in late summer and fall.

Japanese Cobra Lily grows best in partial shade and moist, humus-rich soil. Its emerging leaves...

(Thunberg's Jack-in-the-pulpit, Urashima-so )

Arisaema thunbergii is a tuberous herbaceous perennial native to Korea and Japan. In spring it bears a purple, white-striped spathe, from which protrudes a long, tail-like, S-shaped spadix. A large, compound, horseshoe-shaped leaf overtops the spathe and spadix. Bright orange berries ornament the spadix in fall.

Plant in moist, well drained soil and shade. It makes an excellent addition to the shade garden.