Japanese jacinth (Barnardia japonica) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Japanese jacinth is an East Asian plant that grows from an underground bulb and is grown as an ornamental in the United States. Its slender stalks carry small pink-purple flowers after much of its spring foliage has faded.

Appearance

Growth form: This grows about 8–20 in (20–50 cm) tall when in flower.
Leaves: In Japan, narrow leaves emerge in spring, often fade before flowering, and can appear again in fall.
Flowers: Many small, starry pink-purple flowers line the upper part of the stalk and open from the bottom upward.
Flowering time: In Japan, it flowers from August through October.
Fruit: The flowers are followed by small dry that contain the seeds.

Look-alikes

lilyturfLiriope muscari

Lilyturf keeps a dense clump of dark green, strap-like leaves while it blooms and later makes shiny black berries. Japanese jacinth often flowers after its spring leaves fade and produces dry capsules instead.

Why they get mixed upBoth can show upright purple flower spikes above narrow, grasslike leaves.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: sunny grasslands
open slopes
field edges
Range: It is native from China through Korea and Japan to Taiwan and the Russian Far East, not the United States. In cultivation, it may be grown as an ornamental bulb.
Preferred conditions: In its native range it grows in sunny, open ground, including grassy slopes and field margins.

Life cycle

Reproduction: Plants reproduce by seed and persist from an underground bulb.

Name and classification

About the name: Japanese jacinth also appears under the older name Scilla scilloides.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed

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