N18 Hosta albofarinosa - from The Hosta Helper

Hosta albofarinosa
aka White Powder Hosta

According to the Hosta Species Update by W. George Schmid (2009) displayed in The Hosta Library, this species was discovered in Anhui Province in China by De Qun Wang in 1989. It is now considered to be one of four hosta species indigenous to China including:

Hosta plantaginea	Hosta ensata
Hosta ventricosa	Hosta albofarinosa

The name comes from the white, powdery coating on the leaf surface. It comes from the Latin words albus = white and farina or farinosus = like flour. This trait distinguishes this from the other Chinese species.

Schmid states that, "Although this new species has been declared similar to H. ventricosa (D.Q. Wang 1989), it appears to be similar to H. longipes in the leaf mound and near to H. sieboldii in its flower morphology."

See the article below for more detail on this plant.

An article by Dr. Ben J.M. Zonneveld of the Netherlands in The Hosta Journal (1997 Vol. 28 No. 2) states that, "A possible new species of the genus Hosta has been found in China in 1989. Some time ago, I went to the famous Leiden Herbarium...One of the interesting finds was a description of H. albofarinosa...From the Latin description, it seems to be a plant similar to H. ventricosa, except both sides of the leaf are white powdered and it has upright flowers. The leaf blade is 13-20 cm (5 to 8 inches) x 6-9 cm (2 to 3½ inches) with 5-7 veins. The scape is about 40 cm (16 inches) high with 10 flowers. There are 1-2 leafy, sterile bracts 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) long and 1-1.5 cm (1/3 to 1/2 inches) broad. The large, purple-striped white flower is not fragrant. The 6 stamens have yellow anthers. It is found in the province of Anhui, Xiuning County at 800 m (2624 feet) elevation above sea level...we should try to get hold of the plant alive or dead to study it in more detail to find out whether it is a particularly good species."