Farfugium (Leopard Plant)

The JLBG collection includes about 1 species with 3 varieties, 1 nothospecies; 123 clones

Farfugium is an Asian genus in the Aster family with only two currently recognized species, Farfugium japonicum and Farfugium hiberniflorum. Farfugium was first described as Arnica tussilaginea in 1768. In the 1800s, it was published as Farfugium grande in 1857, Senecio farfugium in 1858, Ligularia farfugium in 1859, followed by Farfugium kaempferi in 1861, and finally Senecio tussilagineus in 1891.

Fast forward to the 1900s, when in 1904 the name was changed to Ligularia tussilaginea, followed in 1939 with four new names for the same plant, Farfugium luchuense, Farfugium tussilagineum, Farfugium japonicum, and Farfugium hiberniflorum were published. Finally, in 1942, during the war, The Taiwanese form was published as Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum. When the nomenclatural tug of war finally ended, the 1939 published Farfugium japonicum was recognized as being the only valid name for one species, and Farfugium hiberniflorum for the other.

There are four recognized varieties within Farfugium japonicum:

Farfugium japonicum var. japonicum which is widespread in Japan, South Korea, and East China

Farfugium japonicum var. luchuense from the Okinawa and Kagoshima

Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum from Wakayama and Kagoshima Prefectures, and

Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum from Taiwan.

All of the farfugium species and varieties hybridize readily, so seed grown offspring from garden grown plants would be difficult to assign to one of the varieties, and so should only be named as a form of straight Farfugium japonicum.

Gardeners in Japan have been at the forefront of selecting and naming various forms. It is our goal to display as many as possible in the hopes of both sorting out nomenclatural errors while enticing more people to grow these amazing plants. So far, we have had the good fortune to study these both in the wilds of Korea and Japan.

Bibliography Citations:

Hajime Okuno, Masashi Nakata and Masahiro Mii; Cytological studies on wild Farfugium japonicum (Asteraceae), Chromosome Science 12: 27-33, 2009

Naofumi Nomura1,*, Tokushiro Takaso1, Ching-I Peng2, Yoshiko Kono2,3, Kazuo Oginuma4,
Yuki Mitsui5 and Hiroaki Setoguchi; Molecular phylogeny and habitat diversification of the genus Farfugium (Asteraceae) based on nuclear rDNA and plastid DNA; Annals of Botany 106: 467–482, 2010

This photo album contains mostly images of farfugiums that we grow at Juniper Level Botanic Garden, except those designated as taken by others.

JLBG currently holds one of the largest collections of farfugiums in the world.

Farfugium Gallery

Farfugium japonicum 'Acid Wash'

Farfugium japonicum 'Argenteum'

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum' flowers

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum' foliage

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum' seedheads

Farfugium japonicum 'Basho Ogi'

Farfugium japonicum 'Beni' flowers

Farfugium japonicum 'Crispatum'

Farfugium japonicum 'Epic Leopard'

Farfugium japonicum 'Escargot'

Farfugium japonicum 'Ferris Wheel'

Farfugium japonicum 'Fukuju Botan'

Farfugium japonicum 'Genko Jishi'

Farfugium japonicum 'Jagged Edge'

Farfugium japonicum 'Kagami Jishi'

Farfugium japonicum 'Kaimon Dake' flowers

Farfugium japonicum 'Kaimon Dake' new foliage

Farfugium japonicum 'Kin Botan'

Farfugium japonicum 'Kin Kan'

Farfugium japonicum 'Kin Kan' flowers

Farfugium japonicum 'Lance-a-Lot'

Farfugium japonicum 'Matsuyama Kinkan'

Farfugium japonicum 'Mitsuba'

Farfugium japonicum 'Mitsuba' in flower

Farfugium japonicum 'Roundabout'

Farfugium japonicum 'Ryuto'

Farfugium japonicum 'Shishi'

Farfugium japonicum 'Shishi Botan'

Farfugium japonicum 'Shishiba'

Farfugium japonicum 'Tai Chi' in flower

Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum 'Green Tea' in flower

Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum 'Green Teeth'

Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum 'Taiwan Star'

Farfugium japonicum var. formosanum 'Taiwan Star' in flower

Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum 'Marco'

Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum 'Sunsplash'

Farfugium japonicum 'Velvet Leopard'

Farfugium japonicum 'Wavy Gravy'

Farfugium japonicum 'Yaezaki'

Farfugium japonicum 'Yaezaki' flowers

Farfugium japonicum 'Yaezaki Hoshifu'

Farfugium japonicum 'Yaezaki Hoshifu' flowers

Farfugium 'Last Dance' in flower

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Farfugium (Leopard Plant)

Farfugium Gallery

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