| + | Hosta (personal name). Funkia of Sprengel, sometimes spelled Funckia. The Funckia of Willdenow is Astelia. Liliaceae. Day Lilt. Plaintain Lily. Hardy perennials of China and Japan, much planted for their masses of root- leaves and for their white and bluish flowers; the funkias of garden literature. Sometimes spelled Hostia. |
| + | Herbs, forming stools or clumps: lvs. petiolate, ovate or lance-ovate, prominently several - ribbed, those on the flowering sts. smaller and becoming bract-like: fls. in terminal racemes or spikes, white or blue; perianth funnelform, 6-parted and more or less irregular, the lobes not widely spreading; stamens 6, the filaments filiform, the anthers long-oblong and versatile: pod oblong and angled, many-seeded, splitting into 3 valves; seeds flat and black, winged at the apex.— Species about 10. In cult., the synonymy seems to be much confused. |
| + | The hostas are hardy and of the easiest culture. Their dense stools or clumps of foliage are in place along walks or drives and in the angles against buildings. A continuous row along a walk gives a strong and pleasing character. Make the soil rich and deep. The clumps improve with age. The large-leaved kinds grow vigorously in moist, shady places. Of some varieties the leaves are strikingly variegated. They bloom in summer. Foliage is killed by frost. Propagation is by dividing the clumps; some species produce seeds freely, and seedlings can be grown readily if seed is sown as soon as ripe. |