Hosta

Hosta is a genus of about 40 species of lily-like plants in the family Agavaceae, native to northeast Asia. The scientific name is also used as the common name; in the past they were also sometimes called the Plantain lily, but the term is now obsolete. more...

The Japanese name Giboshi is also used in English to a small extent.

They are herbaceous plants, with broad lanceolate leaves 6–50 cm long and 4–30 cm broad. The flowers are produced on an erect panicle up to 60 cm tall; the individual flowers are usually pendulous, 2–5 cm long, with six petals, greenish, white, violet or pink in colour; richly perfumed in some species, but mostly scentless.

Cultivation and uses

Though many Hostas originate in China, many of the species that provide the modern shade garden plants were introduced from Japan to Europe by Philipp Franz von Siebold in the mid-19th century.

Hostas are widely-cultivated ground cover plants; cultivars with golden- or white-variegated leaves are especially prized. The American Hosta Society and the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society support Hosta Display Gardens, often within botanical gardens.

Hostas are notoriously a favourite food for slugs and snails, which commonly cause extensive damage to hosta collections in gardens.

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