Aptly named, the fringecup (Tellima grandiflora) graces the shady western North America woodlands with whimsical blooms, lush, fuzzy foliage, and a bit of cottage-garden charm in the mixed floral communities it shares.
Flowers and Seed Capsules
The fringecup is characterized by its long, lolling stalks of distinctively lashed blooms. Each individual bud features a fused calyx1A calyx is the outer structure that encloses or forms the base of a flower. It is composed of the sepals, which are modified leaves that enclose a flower bud before it opens. of five green sepals2Sepals are modified leaves that enclose a flower bud before it opens. that forms its common name’s “cup” when its pleated tip opens. Five thin and finely divided petals then emerge and reflex over the calyx, forming the “fringe.” The petals begin white or green, but often mature to a deep rose, probably as a result of pollination, as do many flowers. 
Up to around twenty such blooms dangle from a single raceme, or unbranched floral stalk, all loosely facing the direction of the plant’s light source. Reaching approximately three feet/one meter in height, the stalks often gently curve along their length and nod demurely at the tip, almost as if burdened by the weight of their blossoms. Even after the fringed petals have withered, the cups persist, cradling the seeds of the next generation until they spill out into their woodland world, as in the accompanying photo.
Plant Features
Growing from thick, creeping rhizomes3Rhizomes are thickened stems that grow along or under the soil surface and bear shoots above and roots below., the fringecup is a perennial that can fill empty spaces as a ground cover or merely meander through a mixed woodland border. An individual plant consists of a basal clump of long-stemmed, palmate leaves, divided into several shallow, rounded lobes. The petioles, or, leaf stems, shorten at each tier along the flower stalk, becoming clasping with no stem at all just beneath the raceme. In milder climates, the leaves persist through winter, but may become veined or blushed with dusky plum purple. Downy hairs fringe the stalks, petioles, and leaf margins, sometimes almost giving the appearance of prickles, but are harmless.
Similar Species
When not in bloom, the fringecup can look quite similar to the distantly related and equally bizarre youth-on-age, or, piggyback plant (Tolmiea menziesii), with which it shares its range and preferred habitat. A key distinguishing feature is youth-on-age‘s unique ability to reproduce asexually by sprouting tiny new plants from its leaf bases. The fringecup does not possess this capability and will never have plantlets or buds in the cleft where its leaf joins the petiole. The fringecup’s otherwise similar-looking leaves tend to have slightly less pointed lobes than those of the youth-on-age. Also, the petioles on the fringecup’s upper leaves progressively shorten along the main stalk, the leaves becoming stemless and even clasping4Wrapping around or enclosing near the raceme as in the accompanying photo of a fringecup leaf (likely lined by a leaf miner larva); youth-on-age‘s leaves will always have at least a short stem. Even after blooming, the fringecup remains true to its common name, producing seed in upturned cups, whereas youth-on-age can be differentiated by its unique, arrow-shaped seed capsules.
Range and Habitat
The fringecup abounds in moist, low to mid elevation mixed woodland throughout the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains from Alaska to northern California. It is less common where it extends east into the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Idaho, and Montana. Look for it in bloom from mid-spring to mid-summer, depending on elevation. In Western Washington, the fringecup is often found in the company of the youth-on-age, as well as the largeleaf avens (Geum macrophyllum).
Typical fringecup habitat in Western Washington:
Gallery
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