A Japanese plant that was introduced to the American nursery trade a few(?) years ago, whose name I can't quite remember. I think I remember Kiringoshima, but none of the catalogs I looked at list anything under that. There is Kirengoshoma, but the plants are very different. This plant puts out one or two leaves, a few interesting but not very showy flowers, then goes dormant from mid-summer until next spring. I'm hoping it will spread a bit, as a clump would be a nice feature, bridging flowering between spring and later summer/early fall.
UPDATE 7/10/09: After searching around on Google, I am pretty sure this is Kirengeshoma koreana. As the specific name implies, it is from Korea. Pictures show some variability in the leaves, from a deeply incised maple shape to the rounder form of my plant's leaves. K. koreana is also described as having less pendulous flowers than the Japanese species, K. palmata. I haven't found an exact match for the ragged-edge flowers on my plant, but the general characteristics seem to match. All the descriptions say this plant achieves a tall (anywhere from 3-7 feet!) shrub-like form, which my struggling little plant has never done. I think a dose of fish emulsion is called for.
