National Council for The Conservation of Plants and Gardens
National Collection of the Genus Codonopsis and Allied Genera
Pankycodon purpureus
From quite a wide spread across the Himalaya comes this unusual Codonopsis ( so unusual the Chinese have placed it in its own genus). We have never come across it before although it deserves to be better known with its large deep maroon flowers and attractive foliage and stems tinged purple. When we took over the National Collection we were donated a large seed bank by the previous collection holder and the seed was simply labelled CC7057 which, to be honest, we didnt think was Codonopsis seed as it was quite elongated. As it grew it didnt much resemble any of our other plants either. Thank goodness we persevered because it flowered for the first time in August 2018, five years after sowing."
©Bob Armstrong
©Bob Armstrong