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| Category: Perennial |
| Family: Asparagaceae (~Liliaceae) |
| Origin: New Zealand (Australasia) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: White |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Summer |
| Synonyms: [Arthropodium cirrhatum] |
| Height: 1-3 feet |
| Width: 1-2 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 15-20° F |
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Arthropodium cirratum (Renga Lily) - An easily to grow strap-leafed perennial that forms large attractive clumps of medium green somewhat glaucus and thick 2 foot long strap shaped leaves that gracefully arch over. In summer appear the long lasting airy branched panicles to 3 feet tall of white starry flowers that have fuzzy purple, yellow and white stamens. Plant in full sun with regular watering to shade where it can be grown fairly dry in coastal gardens but best in shade with occasional irrigation inland. It is fairly drought tolerant along the coast and as it is tolerant of salt spray, it is a good plant in first exposure coastal situations. Foliage can get nipped by frost but the plant is hardy to 15° F and it rebounds fast so is useful in gardens in USDA Zones 8b and above. Can be cut back to about 1 foot tall to rejuvenate and treat for snails and slugs as needed as this plant has proven to be very attractive to them. This is an attractive plant for edging a walkway, mass understory plantings or as specimen plant. In New Zealand it often is planted in the center of divided road medians. The flowers are also great in arrangements. Renga Lily grows naturally in coastal areas, often on rocks near the seashore, of the Three Kings Island, the North Island and northerly areas of the South Island of New Zealand. This lily relative has been placed in many different families but current treatment has it in the subfamily Lomandraceae within the huge Asparagus family, the Asparagaceae. The genus name is from the Greek words 'arthron', meaning a "joint" and 'podion', meaning a small foot in reference to the to the jointed pedicels of the flowers. The specific epithet is the Greek word for curled in reference to the anthers. This plant was originally described in 1786 as Anthericum cirrhatum but assigned to the genus Arthropodium in 1822 and later the specific epithet was corrected to cirratum. The name Renga is the Maori name for the plant and it is also called Rock Lily and Star Lily. We first grew this plant from 1993 until 1997 but discontinued it as it really was susceptible to snail damage. With less toxic snail control products now widely available and after seeing it doing great in gardens, we decided to grow this plant again and thank John Bleck for keeping this plant going in his garden and giving us the seed to start it up again. Our thanks also to Marilee Kuhlmann of Urban Water Group for the pictures of this plant on our website from a garden she designed in Century City.
Information displayed on this page about Arthropodium cirratum is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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