FARFUGIUM japonicum Aureomaculatum

Fabulous variety of Farfugium japonicum, a perennial and evergreen herbaceous plant, with an easy growth and bushy habit, native to eastern Asia: at its maximum development, it can grow up to 40-50 cm tall and more or less large. A dense tuft of large leaves, held up by thin, fleshy red colored stems, rises from a vigorous underground rhizome. The leaves are neatly distributed in every direction and give the plant a regular, globular, hemispherical shape: the leaf blades, glabrous, smooth and shiny, rounded in shape with slightly lobed margins, are dark green with showy golden spots, hence the term of “Aureomaculatum” and the popular name of “leopard plant”. Between the end of summer and autumn, numerous inflorescences flutter over the entire foliage. The numerous ramified inflorescences are supported by robust peduncles and are composed of bright yellow daisies: they are followed copiously by small seeds with large pappus, able to spread easily in the environment surrounding, ensuring easy self-dissemination

It prefers shady or at most semi-shaded positions, fearing the sun's rays which can cause serious burns to the leaf blades. It adapts to any type of soil, but prefers rich, humiferous and fresh and above all well-drained ones. It does not tolerate the salinity typical of the sea winds of coastal regions where it is therefore advisable to place it in sheltered corners; it bears only very short periods of drought and indeed takes advantage of constant summer wetting. Withstands minimum winter temperatures only a few degrees below zero, and therefore where the cold is intense and lasting, choose a protected location, or mulch it with dry leaves and straw, or guarantee it shelter in a cool and bright environment in winter. In spring, at the vegetative restart, no intervention is necessary: just remove dry, broken, old or cluttered leaves. It is perfect in medium sized pots and containers on balconies and terraces, paying attention to avoid sunny exposures. In the open ground, it can dress the foot of evergreen bushes or trees, or, arranging several specimens in succession, it can create low borders or enrich the vegetation near ponds: with its original and elegant variegation, it will know how to any case embellish any corner of our garden.