TOW- Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa
IntarsiaCo@aol.com (Sun, 16 May 2004 02:37:43 PDT)

Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa

Recent publications have split Paris into Paris, Daiswa and Kinugasa. For
simplicity (and habit) I will refer to all of the non-trillium Trilliaceae as
Paris.

Paris are perennial herbs arising from a rhizome that may be thin or
tuberous. Atop a simple stem sits a solitary whorl of from 4 to 22+ leaves.
Solitary, bisexual flowers sit atop a simple flower stalk The green or red ovary may
have one chamber or 4+. One chambered plants are also called Daiswa. The style
base may be purplish, red, white or yellow. Seeds may or may not have an aril
and can be red, white or brown. Tepals are arranged in 2 whorls of 3-8:
outer ones are green, rarely white; inner ones may be absent and can be green,
purplish or yellow-green. Stamens are arranged in 2-3 whorls, filaments are
flat and narrow, free portion of the connective may be relatively long, short, or
globose.

Paris are native to Eurasian temperate, deciduous woodlands. They prefer
mildly acid to acidic, moisture retentive, rich, light, well drained woodsy soils
with deciduous leaf mulch in the fall. They may go dormant in the late summer
and resent transplanting. Best in USDA zones 5-8, impossible in tropical
Florida, very difficult in Southern California or the desert Southwest.

Susan Farmer’s searchable DELTA dataset may be found at:
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/actkey/actkey.jsp/…

Taxon list and links:
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/actkey/…

A key to the 20+ Chinese species may be found at the online Flora of China at:
http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/flora/browse.do/…

Trillium-L listserv at:
http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/…

Mark Mazer
Intarsia Ltd.
Gaylordsville, Connecticut 06755-0142
USA
http://www.therapyshapes.com/
USDA Zone 5
Giant Schnauzer Rescue