Heuchera

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Heuchera

Heuchera elegans in Mount Wilson (California)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Saxifragaceae
Genus:	Heuchera L.
Species
See text

The genus Heuchera (pron.: )^[1] includes at least 50 species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. They have palmately lobed leaves on long petioles, and a thick, woody rootstock. The genus was named after Johann Heinrich von Heucher (1677–1746), an 18th-century German physician.

Alumroot species grow in varied habitats, so some species look quite different from one another, and have varying preferences regarding temperature, soil, and other natural factors. H. maxima is found on the Channel Islands of California, where it grows on rocky, windy, saline-washed ocean shores. H. sanguinea, called coral bells because of its terra cotta-colored flowers, can be found in the warm, dry canyons of Arizona.

1 Food and medicinal uses
2 Cultivation
3 Selected species
4 Gallery
5 References
6 External links

Food and medicinal uses

Though tangy and slightly astringent, the leaves may be used to liven up bland greens.

Natives of the Northwest U.S. used a tonic derived from Alumroot roots to aid digestive difficulties.

Cultivation

The majority of Heuchera sold for gardens are hybrids of H. americana, such as 'Green Spice' (see illustration). ^[2] The original 'Purple palace' discovered in a Royal Palace in England is believed to be a H micrantha x H villosa hybrid, (New England Guide 2000) which was then crossed with H americana. A further group of hybrids arose from crossing Heuchera with Tiarella, to form Heucherella. Gardeners and horticulturists have developed a multitude of hybrids between various Heuchera species. There is an extensive array of blossom sizes, shapes, and colors, foliage types, and geographic tolerances. They are valued as foliage plants, producing rosettes of leaves in shades of green, pink and bronze, often variegated or textured; with long racemes of white, green, pink or red flowers in Spring.