• Image of Tricyrtis puberula|Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC|JLBG

    Photo by JLBG taken at Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC

  • Image of Tricyrtis puberula|Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC|JLBG

    Photo by JLBG taken at Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC

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Tricyrtis puberula

Downy Toad Lily

This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

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Item #: 5434

Zones: 5a to 7b, probably colder

Dormancy: Winter

Height: 30" tall

Culture: Light Shade

Origin: China

Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)


The little-known Tricyrtis puberula was incorrectly thought to be a synonym for the Japanese Tricyrtis latifolia by herbarium botanists, who had only seen dead herbarium specimens...another reason live plants make for better ID's. Tricyrtis puberula emerges with large, hairy, glaucous leaves, highlighted by huge, attractive black spots. The stalks rise upward until late June (NC) when they are topped with terminal sprays of light brown flowers, each spotted dark brown with contrasting yellow anthers. This is a long flowering species, but one which goes dormant long before Tricyrtis hirta comes into flower. The leaves, whose blotched pattern fades in heat, clasp the 30" upright stems, unlike Tricyrtis latifolia.