Description
This species hails from Japan and Korea. It has very attractive foliage, more so than the American species in my view.
Achlys japonica is an unusual member of the Barberry family – Berberidaceae and it likes a moist, leafy or humus-rich soil in part or transient shade and once established (this may take a season), it slowly spreads to make a very open clump. To give you an idea, the spread is further, but more sparse than the related Epimedium. It is a bit of a traveller but is not invasive however and it makes a very “open” carpet and only then with time .
White wands of flowers appear in summer over the very decorative, three-part leaves, which themselves become vanilla-scented on drying. This is fully hardy with us and it is a fantastic companion plant to woodland orchids such as Cypripedium and woodlanders such as Paris or Trillium.
