Pic of the Day--Undulata Univittata

[Hank Zumach]

Hi All--If widespread use is an indicator of whether a variety is a "classic", then Undulata Univattata is one of the true classics. There seems to be little doubt that it is the most widely used white centered hosta variety. Univittata is like all the Undulatas, it doesn't get no respect. I don't know why that is so because UU is a very attractive plant in my opinion, with good growth habits under various conditions. I purchased Undulata Univittata back in 1994 when I was still learning about how to properly space hostas. Since I'm reluctant to move an established plant I have left UU squeezed into the spot it was originally planted, next to a Black Walnut tree. None the less, the plant has done fine. Although its size has dropped down a bit in the last couple of years, probably due to tree roots, it has usually averaged about 50x22. Zilis lists it at 45x18. On the down side, UU needs slug protection and tends to get a somewhat ragged, worn out look by the end of the season.

Hosta Registry - http://www.hostaregistrar.org/detail.php?id=6771&Variety=Undulata%20Univittata
MyHostas Database - http://www.myhostas.be/db/hostas/Undulata+Univittata
Hosta Library - http://www.hostalibrary.org/u/uu.html

Undulata Univittata 6-25-03c 020.jpg

[newtohosta-no more]

I agree with you ,Hank. Seems like many of the "common" hostas don't get the respect they deserve. Not only are many of them very attractive, but they are work horses, IMO. Your UU is lovely.

[greenguy]

this is a great plant and a real classic imo

I would like to meet the one person that bought the first one in this area to thank him. I do not know anyone that bought one. The story always seem to go something like this, someone gave it to me but they got it from some other guy who got it from a friends, friends, friend............ etc.

A true friendship hosta

[thy]

Hank, I think you can dig up UU, chop it up in small pieces and it will still do fine

Pia

[Tigger]

A classic, most certainly. So old that botanists don't even know what it is! (a hybrid of unknown origin) That said, "Good habits under various conditions," IMO, doesn't apply as well here on the hot and humid east coast. This is a great, eye-catching plant for the spring garden, but by mid-summer it's best to avert your eyes. And for some reason here, [uninformed] people do plant this in full sun, which exacerbates the problem. I guess in a real "spring" border (with bulbs and early-blooming shrubs) it can be an outstanding plant. (and it helps that it grows like a weed)

Oh, and cut the blooms off of this one. Really. There are some who actually cut these to the ground mid-summer and get a later flush of reasonable looking leaves (but that may hasten the progression of the plant towards its all-green sibling, Undulata Erromena).

[caliloo]

I can't agree more - this really is the Rodney Dangerfield of hostas. Tigger is right though, there seem to be a tone of these planted in full sun in this area too... yeesh - that is an UGLY sight come July.
But in the spring... not much is prettier!

[LucyGoose]

I think this a pretty one in the spring, too.....I don't have it but it's everywhere here also, and in sun.....

Thanks for the picture, caliloo....Very nice!!

[jgh]

a few words about Undulata... ready for a little background on names??? (forgive me, all of you for whom this is "old hat." I only learned this stuff because patient elders passed it on to me in forum posts...)

with plants, species are listed with small case and no apostrophes and cultivars are capitalized with apostrophes.

Thus we have H. ventricosa - a species that occurs in natural environments. We might get a bunch of seedlings, hybrids and sports from it, but as a species, it can self pollinate and self-reproduce.

and we have H. 'Golden Tiara' - a named cultivar that doesn't have a naturally occuring species in nature.

Why all this basic backgroud? Because I've seen lots of changes in undulata/Undulata in my time with hostas.

Zilis does a nice job of describing the history and heritage of Undulata. Its origins are lost in history, but there has been lots of confusion over the years. When I first started collecting, Undulata was H. undulata - a species. Indeed, Maekawa listed it as such in 1973. but he also noted that its habitat was "cultivated in gardens of Japan" which made one suspect it wasn't really a species, but a cultivar. More evidence that it wasn't a naturally occurring species was its variegation and the fact that it never reproduces itself from seed. Indeed, it very rarely produces fertile seeds at all.

George Schmid, in his amazing book The Genus HOSTa firmly insisted on removing undulata from the species list and selected H. 'Undulata' as the proper epithet.

Usually, when cultivars are names, the species epithet is not used. It just adds complication and confusion. (Like our discussion of whether it is H. sieboldiana 'Elegans' or just H. 'Elegans') But in this case, it had been undulata for so long that even though H. 'Suji' might have been more accurate, but Schmid said H. 'Undulata" and hosta name sticklers breathed sighs of relief.

But even as Undulata, it provides us with complications. First of all, it commonly sports to all green. Current convention is to name the all green sport H. 'Undulata Erromena.' There is also a white-margined cultivar that is probably a sport of Erromena and is officially H. 'Undulata Albomarginata.'

With the white-centered version, there is great variation in the width of the center. In naming, convention is that the version that is 2/3 white, it is called H. 'Undulata' and if the center is narrower, maybe 1/3 of the leaf surface, it is called H. 'Undulata Univittata.' Hank's clearly fits in this category.

And then there are the named sports, hybrids and seedlings from this family, which include Kiwi Spearmint, Outhouse Delight (a seedling), Paintbrush, White Wall Tire, and White Feather.

So... I have a spot right by the entry to my house and gardens... right by the garage corner, by the garage, by the sidewalk... stomped on all winter, piled on, beat up by every hose or electric cord dragged around the corner... hmmm... what hosta should I put there... something I don't have to worry about damage or losing it completely... hey, lets stick an Undulata Univittata there!

The irony is that I have 600 plus varieties labeled and displayed... and people very frequently ask about that beautiful hosta right by the driveway!

[and yes, smarty-pants... before you reach for your keyboard... I DO know that I've got it incorrectly named in my photo files... I do have some regular Undulatas in my garden, but this display plant is clearly a Univittata... nobody is perfect!]

Undulata closeup rdcd.JPG

[Eleven]

I have lots of 'Undulata Univitatta':

[ViolaAnn]

2014 - This is mine. Again, one of my older ones except that mine came labelled as 'Joyce Trott' of all things. I didn't know the difference until I'd had it for a decade or so. This one was divided up maybe 4 years ago and moved to a new location. And I just moved it again this year, but didn't divide it because I had a much smaller hosta behind it that was getting lost. Photo July 16, 2014.

Undulata_Univitatta-140716sx.jpg

[ViolaAnn]

2015 - July 25. Seems to like its new location in the garden.

Undulata_Univittata-150725s.jpg

[redcrx]

Undulata Univittata in my garden with a little (for now) blue weedling hiding under it on the left - probably from Elegans. That's Minuteman above/left and El Capitan left edge.

Undulata Univittata 16 00122.JPG

Undulata Univittata 16 00123.JPG

Undulata Univittata 16 00124.JPG

[Tigger]

Maybe a good place to tack this link: All about Undulata

[redcrx]

Fine. I put it in the Index.

[ViolaAnn]

2016 update

Undulata_Univittata-2016-0707s.jpg

[redcrx]

I bought this un-tagged pot last season. I thought it was Fire and Ice. But when the flowers opened the anthers were the wrong color. The dark anthers led my to Undulata Univittata.
The similar looking plant at the bottom/right is a white-centered sport of Searing Flame.

Undulata Univittata 17 2909.jpg

Undulata Univittata 17 2912b.jpg