Common Name: bishop's hat
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Berberidaceae
Native Range: Bulgaria, Turkey, Caucasus
Zone: 5 to 9
Height: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to June
Bloom Description: Yellow with pink to white inner sepals
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Good Fall
Other: Winter Interest
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Drought, Heavy Shade, Erosion, Dry Soil, Shallow-Rocky Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soils in part shade to full shade. Prefers rich, organic soils with even moisture in part shade. Tolerates drought once established. Spreads by rhizomes. Competes well with tree roots. In cold winter climates, cut back what is left of the foliage in late winter.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Epimedium pubigerum is a dense, rhizomatous perennial which is generally grown as a ground cover in shady woodland areas. This species is perhaps the tallest of the epimediums. Loose clusters of complex, dainty, cup-shaped yellowish flowers with creamy white to pink inner sepals appear in spring well above the foliage on wiry stems to 24" tall. Leathery, glossy dark green, compound foliage (usually twice ternate) with heart-shaped leaflets on wiry stems forms dense, spreading mounds. Emerging foliage is often tinged with purple. Foliage is evergreen in warm winter climates, but typically turns bronzish in fall and depreciates throughout the winter in cold winter climates.
Genus name is of unclear origin and meaning but the Greeks used epimedion for a very different plant.
Specific epithet means downy with small hairs.
Epimediums are also commonly called barrenwort or bishop's hat.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems.
Uses
Ground cover for shady areas. Woodland gardens, wild gardens or naturalized areas. Grows well under trees.