Ophiopogon Medicine SEEDS

LATIN NAME: OPHIOPOGON JAPONICUS

COMMON NAME: Mondo Grass

The mondo grass jewels the dense, evergreen, grass-like perennial with the arching, narrow, dark-green or black-purple leaves that form the neat, tufted clumps and the short spikes of the small, lilac or white flowers that open through the summer, the round, glossy, blue-black berries following, the berries jewelling among the leaves. It spreads slowly by the stolons into the dense ground cover, and it likes the light shade, and the moist, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The dense, evergreen habit of the mondo grass gives it a recognised place in the research on the shade ground covers of the asparagus family, and the japonicus species appears in the studies of the stolon spread and the tuberous medicinal uses. The work looks at the way the clumps knit into the neat turf, the blue-black berries, and the seed biology. The horticulturists value the tidy cover, and the growers of the shade-loving ground covers keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the shaded garden, the mondo grass jewels the shade with the blue-black berries. The dense leaves make the neat, low lawn under the trees, the tubers have served the traditional preparations for the ages, and the berries add the late colour. It grows well in the moist, well-drained, lightly shaded ground. Tidy, evergreen and shade-loving.

To grow the Mondo Grass from seed, sow the seeds into the gritty drills of the tray in the autumn, then cover them lightly, keep the tray cool and mist lightly, and the seedlings pop up within a few weeks.

Keep the tray cool and mist lightly, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The jewel berries come within a season or two. Keep the young plants in the shaded, moist ground, and the jewel berries will form within a season or two.

Ophiopogon japonicus seeds

In Chinese medicine the tuber of Ophiopogon japonicus, known as mai men dong, is the cardinal herb for yin deficiency. According to the Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica, the herb is sweet, slightly bitter and slightly cold, enters the heart, lung and stomach channels and nourishes the yin of the stomach, spleen, heart and lungs and clears heat and quiets irritability. It is used for hacking dry coughs, dry tongue and mouth and constipation. Liriope (genus) is used as a substitute.