Epimedium

Epimedium, also known as Barrenwort, Bishop's Hat, Fairy Wings, Horny Goatweed, or Yin Yang Huo (Chinese), is a genus of about 25 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae. They are native to southern Europe, and central, southern and eastern Asia.

Epimedium species are hardy perennials. They have four-petaled "spider-like" flowers in spring or early summer, and many species and cultivars are grown for ornament, particularly as ground covers for partial shade. The evergreen species are particularly good at keeping down weeds; the deciduous ones often have attractively colored new foliage in spring.

Many species of Epimedium are reported to have aphrodisiac qualities. According to legend, this property was discovered by a Chinese goat herder who noticed sexual activity in his flock after they ate the weed. It is sold as a health supplement, usually in raw herb or pill form and sometimes blended with other supplements.

Cultivation

Several species are grown as flowering plants in gardens, and a number of hybrids and cultivars have also been selected. One of the more popular cultivars is the Persian barrenwort E. x versicolor 'Sulphureum', also known as the Bicolor barrenwort, which produces soft yellow flowers in the spring. This plant is very tough and adaptable, being drought-tolerant in shaded to partly-shaded conditions when established; it a hybrid of E. grandiflorum x E. pinnatum ssp. colchicum.

External links

• Botany.com page on ornamental Epimedium
• BBC Gardening page ditto
• A hobbyist's page of photographs
• Alternativehealing.org's page on use in traditional Chinese medicine
• IronMagazine's page on Epimedium as a supplement

Further Reading

• William T. Stern, The Genus Epimedium, revised edition 2002, ISBN 0–88192–543–8