'Velvet Knight' is a honey! The large leaves are large - the one in the scan measures seven and a quarter inches (18.41 cm) from end to end. Younger leaves, as you can see, exhibit more scalloped edges. The reverse is a lovely plum pink, which diffuses throughout the leaf, although the predominant color is a blackish green.
'Stormy Seas' is another rather new child with the typical variation in leaf color from newer (on left) to older leaves. This one has particularly deeply scalloped leaf edges.
| And, the reverse of the leaf is quite bright...totally nifty plant. |
H. micrantha diversifolia 'Palace Purple' is, perhaps, one of the first of the purple leaf clones. At least, it was the first I found years ago to be readily available this side of the Pond. It was selected by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK. It is always described as having bronze red leaves, although mine seem to have more of an olive cast than red on the top side. I've always considered that I must have a seed grown specimen, not a division, and they vary widely in their quality. It also might be that this one needs more sun to maintain the red tint than I can offer it.
The back side of the leaf, however, is beet red as all descriptions indicate - quite nice back lit, especially when tossed a bit by the breeze. You can see the hairs on the underside of the veins and stem in this scan. My plants are fairly ancient divisions of my original, acquired probably fifteen years ago or so. This one does need fairly regular and frequent division to maintain vigorous growth.
Coffee, Anyone?
'Cappuccino' joins others in the coffee and chocolate line - more cinnamon than ruby in tone. New leaves exhibit the coloring, which fades to green on age. This one has very ruffled and cut leaves, not too large, but quite nice, especially with associates echoing this color range. It is said to be more sun resistant than many cultivars. One in this line that I've been wanting is 'Chocolate Ruffles'.
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