Astounding Recent History Creates Plant’s Common Name

Doug Thomson is curator of the Rhododendron Dell at Dunedin Botanic Garden.

What do the disgraced regime of Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, The National Geographic Society and toads all have in common? Answer: The Genus Tricyrtis.

In 1971 the Filipino Minister of Culture coerced a family of ordinary farmers into living as a Stone Age tribe in the rainforest. Possibly this was a way to boost tourism or possibly it was as bait for wealthy donors to tribal education. Unexpectedly, the National Geographic Society was also snared and promoted the ‘lost tribe’ world wide. One of the tribe’s ‘customs’ was to catch their only source of protein – frogs – by crushing and rubbing Tricyrtis imeldiae on their arms and hands as a so- called frog attractant. Since then, all Tricyrtis have become known as toad lily.

Back here in the real world though, Tricyrtis formosana ' Variegata' represents this genus in Dunedin Botanic Garden’s Rhododendron Dell. Their small but remarkable flowers resemble purple spotted stars. At 20 to 30cm tall they combine well with other low perennials but have the added value of flowering well into autumn. Finally, they will spread gradually through moist areas of dappled woodland shade – as long as frogs stay off the menu.

• Tricyrtis formosana originates in Taiwan
• Will grow in neutral or acid soils enriched by well rotted compost
• Useful as cut flower
• Propagate by division in spring or by seed sown fresh
• View amazing close up images of Tricyrtis at www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan10/bj-toadlily.html

To see it growing, walk south down the Cherry Walk and continue downhill past the big totara until the sign entitled, “Water Loving, not Water Logged”. It is right beside that.