Fairybells
Disporum trachycarpum
Family: Colchicaceae
What it is like
Disporum trachycarpum is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 5. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) or semi-shade (light woodland). It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 0.5
Where it is found
Wooded slopes, often by streams, or in aspen groves, to 3000 metres.
Western N. America - British Columbia to N.E. Oregon and south along the Rockies.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
Fruit - raw. A sweet flavour. The fruit is up to 10mm in diameter and is leathery rather than pulpy.
Medicine
Rating: 1
The seed has been used to clear foreign objects from the eye. A fresh seed was inserted and the eye closed then rubbed until the seed was watered out with the foreign object clinging to it. The seeds were also placed in the eye overnight and an infusion of the bark used as an eyewash to treat snow-blindness. An infusion of the leaves has been used as a wash for wounds whilst a poultice of the dampened bruised leaves has been applied to bleeding wounds.
Ophthalmic: Treats eye complaints.
Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.
Other
Rating:
How it is grown
Best grown in partial shade in a moist peaty or woodland soil. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -20°c. Plants spread well by means of creeping rhizomes when they are grown in a leafy soil. This species is closely related to D. smithii.
Propagating it: Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Use a lime-free compost and keep it moist. Stored seed requires 6 weeks cold stratification and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Germination usually takes place within 3 - 6 months or more at 15°c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Division in spring.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; not Deep Shade;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 4-8
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Full shade, semi-shade
Moisture: Moist