Hosta

hosta

Any of about 40 species of hardy herbaceous perennials, also called plantain lily, of the genus Hosta, in the lily family, native to eastern Asia. They prefer light shade but will grow under a variety of conditions. They are frequently grown for their conspicuous foliage, which may be light to dark green, yellow, blue, or variegated. The ribbed leaves grow in a cluster at the base, and stalks bearing clusters of tubular white or bluish-purple flowers emerge from the leaves.

---

Hosta 

(a day, or plantain, lily), a genus of perennial herbaceous plants of the family Liliaceae. The rhizome is compact or short-branched. The numerous radical leaves vary in shape from narrowly lanceolate to broadly ovate, often with a cordate base; their coloration is green or, sometimes, gray-blue owing to a waxy sheen. There are many forms with variegated leaves. The flower stalks are sparsely leafed; the inflorescence is racemose and often unilateral. The perianth is funnelform or funnelform-campanulate, six-lobed, and lilac or violet in coloration (less commonly, white). The fruit is a leathery capsule. There are about 40 species (some of cultivated origin), distributed in temperate and warm regions of Southeast Asia. The USSR has two species, growing in the southern Primor’e, on Sakhalin, and on the Kuril Islands. Plantain lilies are valuable shade-tolerant foliage ornamentals. They are often cultivated under the generic name Funkia.