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Berberidaceae FAMILY

Bongardia chrysogonum

Bongardia chrysogonum

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
GrowthSlow

Bongardia chrysogonum grows in hot, often semi-arid regions of the temperate zone. It can tolerate frost and snow, but cannot tolerate wet conditions, especially when dormant. Requires a well-drained sandy soil and a position in full sun[1, 2, 3]. Strongly dislikes wet conditions[1]. Plants must have hot, dry conditions during their summer dormancy and must not be allowed to become too wet in winter, therefore they are best grown in a bulb frame in moister regions of the temperate zone[4, 5, 2]. Plants can be very long lived[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the greenhouse[2], putting about 3 -4 seeds in each pot. Use deep pots since the seedlings produce a contractile root that can pull themselves down to a depth of 15 - 30cm before sending up their first leaf[5]. The seed germinates in autumn and the first leaf appears in the spring[5]. Grow the plants on in the greenhouse for at least 3 years before planting them out. Division is sometimes suggested as a means of increase, but is not possible for this species[5]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Bongardia+chrysogonum>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]The Genus Epimedium and other Herbaceous Berberidaceae — Stearn. W. T. · The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. · 2002 · ISBN 1 84246 039 0 ↩︎An excellent book covering all the herbaceous members of the Berberidaceae. Gives cultivation details as well as detailed botanical descriptions. Very well illustrated with photographs, paintings and line drawings.
  4. [4]Bulbs — Phillips. R. and Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1989 · ISBN 0-330-30253-1 ↩︎Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.
  5. [5]The Plantsman. Vol. 4. 1982 - 1983. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1982 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants, including Distylium racemosum and some perennial members of the family Berberidaceae.
  6. [6]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  7. [7]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  8. [8]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  10. [10]Flowers of the Mediterranean. — Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. · Hogarth Press · 1987 · ISBN 0-7012-0784-1 ↩︎A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.
  11. [11]Alkaloids of Bongardia chrysogonum — Atta-ur-Rahman et al · Pergamon Press · 1999 ↩︎A research paper, establishing the presence of alkaloids in Bongardia chrysogonum