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Plant profiles

by Michelle Jones Ham

Sometimes the neatest things come in the littlest packages, such is the case with Morisia hypogaea [M. monanthos]. 

Provided with lean, free-draining conditions, it's versatility for rock gardeners becomes very appealing. It will thrive tucked into a sunny corner of the rock garden, trough, raised bed, scree, or alpine house. 

Morisia hypogaea is a perennial rosette-forming Crucifer from Sardinia and Corsica. Growing hardly 1 inch high, it forms close tufts of interwoven, deep lustrous evergreen leaves that are pinnately cut into triangular lobes. It's 4-petalled yellow flowers appear on short stems in clusters above each rosette from spring through early summer. After flowering, the seed capsules turn earthward and are buried under ground to incubate in the soil, typical of the plant (Hypogaea). 

The plant can be propagated either by seed or root cuttings in early spring, or stem cuttings in late summer. Even the most desirable of plants have their drawbacks and this is no exceptions. Once considered a noxious weed in rich-soiled English cottage gardens, it will outgrow the rock garden unless given lean sandy to gritty soil conditions. It also needs winter protection from wet and severe cold. Placing a pane of glass or an evergreen bough over it will give it the protection it needs. 

Morisia hypogaea is a first rate alpine. I have grown it in a raised scree bed in my garden for the past year. It is about 1 inch tall by 1.5 inches wide. Tucked between two rocks, the dark evergreen color and pinnate structure of the leaves is shown to advantage. If you are interested in trying this plant in your garden, it is listed in the Mt. Tahoma Nursery and Arrowhead Alpines catalogues.