Bulbs, Perennials, Tropicals > Roscoea > Roscoea humeana > Roscoea humeana
Roscoea humeana
Hume roscoea
Origin: Discovered by George Forest on one of his expeditions to China in 1914 in the Lijiang Range known today as the Yulong Xue Shann or Jade Dragon Snow Mountains above the town of Lijiang in northwest Yunnan. It was not recognised as a distinct species until 1916 when Bayley Balfour and William Wright Smith named it in honour of Private David Hume who started his career at Kew in the glasshouse leaving that post to join the Royal Scots in 1906. Hume was killed in late August in 1914 in the retreat from Mons.
| Family |
| Zingiberaceae |
| Genus |
| Roscoea |
| Species |
| humeana |
| Category |
| Bulbs, Perennials, Tropicals |
| USDA Hardiness Zone |
| 6 - 9 |
| Canadian Hardiness Zone |
| 5a - Requires cool season protection under glass. |
| RHS Hardiness Zone |
| H3 - H7 |
| Temperature (°C) |
| -23 - (-1) |
| Temperature (°F) |
| -10 - 30 |
| Height |
| 15 - 30 cm |
| Spread |
| 7 - 15 cm |
Photographs
Cultivars
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Description and Growing Information
Flowering Period
| Cultivation |
| Moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil in full sunlight to partial shade. |
| Growth |
| Medium |
| Pests |
| Slugs and snails. |
| Leaf Description |
| Four to six basal leaves that grow around the stem. |
| Flower Description |
| Purple, three-petaled with two petals cured downward while the third, large petal grows upward. |
| Propagation |
| By seed sown cold frame or division. |
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