Tiarella
Heart leaf foam flower ( Tiarella cordifolia )
The foam flower ( Tiarella ) are a genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae ( Saxifragaceae ). Other common names are German turban capsule, foam candle or smock. The last name, however, may be confused with the genus bitter cress ( Cardamine ) from the family of cruciferous plants ( Brassicaceae).
Description
Vegetative characteristics
In Tiarella species are perennial herbaceous plants that reach heights of growth between 10 cm and 50 cm and form rhizomes. There are both evergreen species, as well as species die off their aboveground organs in winter. All above-ground parts of the plant are hairy throughout.
The ever undergraduate, heart-shaped in outline leaves often wear a brownish drawing along the leaf veins. The leaf margin is more or less lobed strong: In some species the leaves are cut like fingers almost to the midrib, in others they are only cut deep. The stipules are small.
Generative features
All Tiarella species bloom in spring. On a 10 to 70 cm long inflorescence stem stand together many flowers in a racemose or paniculate inflorescence. The relatively small, hermaphroditic flowers are fünfzählig double perianth. The five sepals and petals are white to pink. There are ten stamens per flower and two carpels present. The capsule fruits contain few seeds. The seeds are black and smooth.
Distribution and systematics
The first publication of the genus name Tiarella done in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum, 1, pp. 405-406. As lectotype Tiarella cordifolia L. 1837 has been set.
The genus Tiarella contains only three species that occur as a ground cover of herbaceous plants shaded to semi- shaded locations in forests of the temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Two species are native to North America and one in Asia. The 10 cm to 30 cm high species T. cordifolia, T. and T. cordifolia var wherryi collina from eastern North America are now summarized as Tiarella cordifolia sensu lato. The species T. trifoliata and T. unifoliata be out of the western North America now summarized as Tiarella trifoliata sensu lato; they are significantly larger than their eastern relatives. In the forests of East Asia (Japan, China to Nepal and North India ) the nature of Tiarella polyphylla occurs.
The three Tiarella species are:
- Nodding Pincushion foam flower or heart leaf foam flower ( Tiarella cordifolia L., Syn: T. wherryi Lakela ): There are three varieties: Tiarella cordifolia var austrina Lakela
- Tiarella cordifolia var collina Wherry
- Tiarella cordifolia L. var cordifolia
- Tiarella trifoliata L. var trifoliata
- Tiarella trifoliata var laciniata ( Hook. ) Wheelock
- Tiarella trifoliata var unifoliata ( Hook. ) Kurtz, Syn: Tiarella unifoliolata Hook.
Use
All species are used in horticulture as a ground cover for shady locations. There are numerous varieties, which differ in shape and drawing of the leaves and in the intensity of flower color.