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Astilbe chinensis
Astilbe chinensis is a clump-forming perennial with fern-like foliage and plume-like summer flowers, grown in shade gardens and woodland settings. Its key to success is consistently moist, rich soil that never dries out.
Astilbe chinensis, commonly known as false goat's beard, tall false-buck's-beard or Chinese astilbe, is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family, Saxifragaceae. It is a perennial herb that grows near shaded streams and rivers. It is also commonly grown in shade gardens.
Chinese astilbe is prized for its attractive foliage, plume-like inflorescence in the summer, and dried seed heads afterwards. In 1902, the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society described it as "the most important hardy perennial introduced during the past few years". Chinese astilbe is usually planted in woodland gardens and shaded parts of herbaceous borders or cottage gardens as groundcover or edging plant. The plant requires partial to full shade, and grows best in soil which is well-drained and rich in organic material. While more tolerant of drought and exposure to direct sunlight than its congeners, the soil must never dry out. Generally resistant to pathogens and herbivores, most problems are caused by high temperatures and drought.
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Chinese astilbe was discovered by Richard Maack on 6 July 1855 in the south of modern-day Amur Oblast of Russia and the Chinese region Heilongjiang, and by Leopold von Schrenck the following year. The natural range of Chinese astilbe is Eastern China, Japanese archipelago, and Korea, at altitudes between 400 and 3600 meters. It is found along shaded streams and rivers as well as within and along the margins of damp, open broadleaf forests.
Florist's spiraea · Florist's spiraea · Entire Leaf False Goat’s Beard · Thunberg's Astilbe · False goat's beard
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Astilbe chinensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
