MACLEAYA (Macleay'a)

DESCRIPTION: These perennials, commonly called Tree Celandine or Plume Poppy, are originally from the grasslands of China and Japan and they belong to the Poppy family, Papaveraceae. They grow from 5 to 6 feet high and spread up to 4 feet. They form mostly basal clumps of gray to olive-green leaves, which are large, rounded-heart-shaped, toothed and lobed. The tiny, creamy-white flowers have no petals and are produced in thick, feathery sprays in the summer.

POTTING: Plume Poppies love fertile and moist, but well-drained, soil and they make lovely plants for the back of the herbaceous border. They should be grown in full sun.

PROPAGATION: These plants can be increased by division in early spring or by root cuttings in the winter.

VARIETIES: M. cordata; M. microcarpa.

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