American Umbrella Leaf

I thought this was native to the northwest, but I guess it must have come from the eastern U.S. It seems to grow everywhere except in ar...Read Moreeas of full sun. Dry, wet, sandy, clay, loamy, you name it, it grows there. On my property it grows along my driveway in the clay and gravel where it gets very dry in the summer. It also grows alongside and in the stream bed of a spring. I pulled up some of the runners (tubers?) that it sprouts from and buried them in a garden area under an apple tree and it happily spread out across that area. It's a great-looking plant, very tropical looking for this area, and very easy to grow.

I've seen this plant in several gardens, but nowhere flourishing as well as at the Garden in the Woods, Framingham MA. It's a showy plant...Read More, first for its big bold bat-shaped foliage, which it keeps through fall, second for its showy blue fruits on cherry-red stems, and third for its short-lived white flowers held just above the leaves in late May. Where happiest, it reaches 4-5' tall.

Grows from a short rhizome, but remains in a clump. The leaves, when emerging, may be attractively though transiently marked with red/brown. This genus is closely related to mayapple (Podophyllum), but doesn't share our mayapple's aggressive habits.

Needs shelter from strong winds which can damage the big leaves. Here it also needs protection at least from the afternoon sun.

It will survive in well-drained soils in shade with frequent irrigation, but it's native to woodland stream banks in the southern Appalachians, and grows best and biggest in soil that's constantly saturated. There it can reach 5' tall and the leaves can approach 2' across. The fruiting display is also best where the soil is constantly wet. It isn't as dependent on constant moisture as Darmera peltata.

It's said not to do well where summer nights often stay above 70F, as at the lower elevations in the southeastern US.

Propagate by division of the rhizome in fall or earliest spring. It's also said to be possible (if moderately challenging) from seed, if it's fresh.

Cullina says that fresh seed is vital for good germination. Seed will germinate on shifting to 70F after 90 days of cold moist stratification at 40F. The seedlings put up 2 cotyledons the first spring, but can be coaxed with a little liquid fertilizer into sending up a true leaf as well, which will greatly reduce time to maturity. Transplant the second spring, and they will be near flowering size by the end of the growing season.