Ophiopogon japonicus Seeds | Mondo Grass
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LATIN NAME: Ophiopogon japonicus
COMMON NAME: Mondo Grass
Plant Profile
Mondo grass is an evergreen perennial, 15-30 cm tall, with dense tufts of narrow, dark green, grass-like leaves that arch outward from a central crown. It spreads slowly by rhizomes to form a solid mat, and it is one of the most useful ground-cover plants for shade.
The flowers are small, pale lilac and hidden among the leaves in summer, followed by blue-black berries in autumn. The plant is grown for its foliage rather than its flowers, and there are variegated and dwarf forms in cultivation.
Ophiopogon japonicus comes from Japan, Korea and China, where it grows in woodland and along streams. The tuberous roots are the medicinal part in Chinese practice, and they are harvested in autumn from plants three or four years old. In Japan it is clipped into low hedges around temple gardens, where its tolerance of shearing matters as much as its evergreen colour.
Science & Biotechnology
The root contains ophiopogonins, steroidal saponins that are the main active constituents, along with polysaccharides and flavonoids. Extracts have been studied for anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity, and the herb is one of the standard components of Chinese formulas for dry cough and thirst.
The plant is a monocot in the Asparagaceae, and its grass-like appearance is a case of convergent evolution: it is not a grass, and its leaves are built differently, with a different vein pattern and a different type of stomata.
Mondo grass tolerates deep shade, drought and root competition, which is unusual in a plant of woodland origin. That tolerance is why it is so widely used as a ground cover under trees, where little else will grow.
Uses & Benefits
The plant is grown as a ground cover, an edging and a bonsai accent, and it is one of the few evergreens that will grow in dry shade. In Japan it is used in gardens and in the art of bonsai as an underplanting.
The tuberous roots are used in Chinese medicine, usually in formulas for dry cough and for thirst associated with heat. Commercially the plant is a nursery crop, and the root is a traded herb. The berries are not edible. Dwarf forms are used between stepping stones and in troughs, where their fine texture survives the occasional foot.
Growing from Seed
Sow the seed in autumn, cleaned of the flesh, at 1 cm deep in a shady frame. Germination is slow, often three to six months, and the seedlings are tiny in their first year. Division is faster and is how the plant is usually propagated.
Plant out at 15 cm apart in shade or part shade, in soil that holds some moisture but drains. Keep the young plant watered for one season and leave it to the weather afterwards. Mow or trim the mat in early spring if it becomes untidy. Divide clumps every four or five years, in spring, discarding the woody centre.
Our Take
The best evergreen ground cover for dry shade, and one that earns its keep in a garden where grass will not grow.
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