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Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' (Black Mondo Grass) - A slow growing evergreen perennial with black grass-like leaves. It can grow to 8 inches tall by 1 foot wide with individual leaves 10 inches long and less than 1/4 inch wide with new growth very dark green towards the base of the leaves and darkening towards the tips to become one the blackest plants that we know of. Clusters of spikes on which whitish lilac flowers appear in summer and are often followed by dark, nearly black berries in fall.
Best in part sun or light shade, with regular watering. Hardy at least to USDA Zone 6a (-10°F) Great for a groundcover or in containers - very slow growing. A very nice plant for use as a groundcover, as an understory for other plants with contrasting colored foliage or for use in container gardening.
Ophiopogon planiscapus comes from central and southern Japan where it is most often found in open and forested slopes. The name of the genus is derived from Greek words 'ophis' meaning a "snake" and 'pogon' meaning "beard" which is thought to refer to tufted growth of the leaves. The specific epithet comes from the Latin word 'planus' meaning "flat" and 'scapus' meaning "stem" for the shape of the flattened stems of the inflorescence and the cultivar epithet "Nigrescens" is derived from the Latin word 'nigresco' meaning "becoming black" in reference to the color of the foliage.
According to the International Liriope and Ophiopogon Cultivar Register, this plant should not be called by the Latinized cultivar names 'Nigrescens' or 'Arabicus' since the naming conventions set down in The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) prohibited this use for any cultivar name use after 1958 and they recommend the cultivar name 'Kokuryu' be used instead as Liriope 'Kokuryu' was the name it supposedly was introduced into cultivation in the US from Japan by Robert E. Perdue of the USDA in 1959, who obtained it from Nakada Nursery in Angyo, Japan. There remains disagreement about the correct name for the plant as some consider the species Ophiopogon planiscapus to naturally have black foliage and simply list this plant as a species. It is also sometimes listed as 'Black Dragon', 'Ebony Knight' or 'Arabicus'. The oldest name we have found in usage in is Ophiopogon arabicus as a plant accessioned by the Huntington Botanic Garden in 1956 that came from Jimmy Giridlian's Oakhurst Garden, but the cultivar name 'Nigrescens' was used for another plant the Huntington received from Oakhurst Garden in 1957, accessioned as HBG#25997, which would have been before the ICNCP 1958 ruling prohibiting the use of Latinized cultivar names. In the 1976 Hortus III: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada, compiled by the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, this plant is listed as Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Arabicus' but in the 1994 Index of Garden Plants by The Royal Horticultural Society it is listed as Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' and it was under this name that this plant received the Royal Horticultural Society's coveted Award of Garden Merit in 1993.
We have grown this attractive plant since 1993 and have always listed it with the cultivar name 'Nigrescens'. We also grow a cultivar with a thinner shorted leaf called Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Teague's Black'.
The information about Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |
