Microtoena sp. coll. #A1C-130

Probably the most spectacular find on our 1996 China expedition is this unnamed species of microtoena (identified thru an internet scan by England's Ian Hedge). I stumbled upon 1 lonely plant on a lightly shaded hillside (9,000') along the Yangtzee River in Hei Shui near Lijiang, China. The 6' tall clump of vigorous salvia-esque square stems were smothered toward the top with thousands of small snapdragon like flowers with an upper lip of wine and a lower lip of solid white...absolutely stunning, but totally unknown in cultivation...where has this plant been all of our lives.