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donrawson

Dimpled, pebbled, or puckered...what's the difference?

14 years ago

Here are several terms which are often used to describe the leaf surface of certain hostas. But what's the difference...or are they all just synonyms with the same meaning?


For example, is there a difference between seersuckered and puckered? Would anyone like to write a definition for each term:

bisquiting-


cobbled-


corrugated-


dimpled-


pebbled-


puckered-


rugose-


seersuckered-


Diana Grenfell, in her book titled The New Encyclopedia of Hostas, appears to make a distinction between some of these terms, but she never defines them. Here are her descriptions in a few of the entries:


Abiqua Drinking Gourd- "strongly seersuckered and puckered"

Blue Hawaii- "seersuckered to puckered"

Blue Wedgwood- "becoming strongly dimpled when mature"

Tangerine- "dimpled and puckered"

Brother Ronald- "dimpled"

Deep Blue Sea- "intensely seersuckered and puckered"

Dorset Blue- "seersuckered"

Love Pat- "intensely seersuckered"

Moscow Blue- "dimpled to seersuckered"

Golden Prayers- "intensely seersuckered with occassional puckering"

Golden Sculpture- "evenly seersuckered"

Midas Touch- "intensely seersuckered to deeply puckered"


In the introduction, Grenfell writes that the surface of a hosta leaf "...may be smooth as in H. 'Gay Blade', dimpled, as in H. 'Blue Wedgwood', seersuckered, as in H. 'Midas Touch', puckered, as in H. 'Millennium', or furrowed, as in H. montana" (page 19).


When I look at the Hosta Dictionary posted by the American Hosta Society, here's what it says:


corrugated- see seersuckering

dimples- a slight form of seersuckering

puckering- see seersuckering

seersuckering- the gathering of a leaf between the veins giving the leaf the bubbled effect as if thread had been pulled out of a piece of material


According to this dictionary, apparently corrugated/puckering/seersuckering are all the same, while dimples are just a slight form of puckering.


Your thoughts?

Comments (20)

  • 14 years ago

    i have pondered this before .... says something about me.. but i am not sure what ...

    i would suggest that rugose is a latin derivative ... historical in its botanical use ...

    after that.. they all sound like a bunch of blue haired ladies sitting in a circle using poetic sewing terms to describe a plant ... just about every one of them is a sewing/knitting/embroidery term ... dont you think ....

    lets say that the great historical botanists.. used rugose ... and the lay-peeps started using more common words ...

    six of one.. half dozen of another.. they are all descriptive...

    i mean really .. i had to struggle with cordate when i started ... and here goes don in his other concurrent post.. using... what??? ... lol ...

    ken

  • 14 years ago

    Ken, you may be on to something.... What about "quilted"?

    Here's a description of Shady Oaks Nursery:

    Love Pat - "(P. Aden, 1978) M This choice variety features thick blue leaves with a quilted texture"

    Here's a description from eHow.com:

    "Hosta leaves have various forms and textures that give the perennials their charm. Seersuckering hostas have heavily quilted leaves, resembling seersucker fabric. Undulating leaves have an overall wave to the blade, while piecrust leaves have a rippled effect just along the margin. Twisted leaves rotate around an imaginary midline, and glabrous leaves are smooth. Rugose leaves are thick and relatively stiff."

    Gesila

  • 14 years ago

    Hmmm...cordate? Does that mean..heart-shaped??? Hmmm...

  • 14 years ago

    if you go back to the George Schmid tome ... the Genus Hosta.. and start reading the species stuff ...

    or even his updated stuff thru the hosta library ... the SPECIES link ...

    he says stuff like this about H. aequinoctiiantha, in the first box in the species grid:

    Plant Morphology: Plant size 35�40 cm dia., 30 cm high (14�16 by 12 in.). Petiole12.5�17.5 by 0.3 cm (5�7 by 0.125 in. wide) erect, green, purple-dotted, starting at leaf base, becoming progressively darker towards ground. Leaf 7.5�12.5 by 5-7.5 cm (3�5 by 2-3 in.), erect and in line with petiole, entire, oval-ovate, petiole transition rounded, truncate, smooth, wavy, mem-branous, thin; tip acuminate, cuspidate; green to dark green above, lighter, opaque green below.

    no food references .. no pie .. no sewing .. no nothing .. just plainly defined scientific words ...

    back in the day.. i spent many a hour.. reading thru his tome during hockey games ... who knew this post was why ...

    i think the root of the issue.. is the difference between scientific words .. and words used for marketing .... i mean really.. who isnt going to put a plant on the I HAVE TO HAVE IT LIST.. if it mentions pie????

    and historically .. who did the sewing .. well.. the same person who did the gardening ....

    good winter reading at this link, history at its best:

    http://hostalibrary.org/species/index.html

    ken

    ps: who knew hosta had a history of discovery ... goooo funkia!! rah, rah , cis boom ba ....

    Here is a link that might be useful: link to PDF

  • 14 years ago

    My favorite and most descriptive term came from someone on this forum years ago. BUMPLES. Kinda says it all.

    -Babka

  • 14 years ago

    I like that, Babka. "Bumples" would be a cool name for a hosta...I see there already is one named 'Bumpity Bump'.


    Hosta 'Bumpity Bump' (pic from the Hosta Library)

  • 14 years ago

    Aaah! Wintertime - the bane of hosta lovers over the centuries. It is a time when we aren't busily counting vein pairs, taking pics, measuring plants, checking every place we know sells hostas---etc, etc, It is a season when we use this time to sit in our warm homes and ponder bumples and things. I love it!

    I am not making fun of anyone. I too have pondered everything in this thread. Did I just say "thread"? No wonder we describe hosta leaves in sewing terms; we speak in threads.

    I have spent much professional time reading, and writing ast times, in science-speak language. Reading it is similar to going to bed with a copy of the National Electrical Code propped up on your tummy. You just don't get much read before shutting off the light. I like the common language better, like, "if it sparks, kill the breaker!". If it has bumples it is NOT H. lancifolia. That isn't very scientific but everyone knows what I just said is true - I think!

    Les

  • 14 years ago

    Whatever it is called,I look the look,and I have several that meets that criteria! Phil

  • 14 years ago

    On that last transmission! Should read,like the look! I can spell OK,just can't type well. Phil

  • 14 years ago

    When I think of puckered,I think of this pic of my Olive Bailey Langdon. Phil

    {{gwi:923627}}

  • 14 years ago

    Hmmm...puckered??? Looks more pebbled...or maybe corrugated...or I guess seersuckered, don't ya think? LOL

  • 14 years ago

    Bumpled. Definitely bumpled Phil! Look at the 3rd from the lower left. One of the most bumpled hosta leaves I have seen in a long time.

    Les

  • 14 years ago

    I didn't get the name of this Hosta. Couldn't read the tag. I know it's a Sieboldiana type, and it's not Elegans. But it's the most bumpled Hosta I've seen.

    How would you describe it, Don? Bumpled? Wrinkled? Rugose? How about Grizzled?

    Steve

  • 14 years ago

    That large blue one has bumpy, grizzled and floppy leaves. Older other blue ones get like that somewhat. Since I want to have one like that, just ordered 'Bold Ruffles' and 'Ryan's Big One' seeds from Homestead.
    Bernd

  • 14 years ago

    2011 purchases. One very bumpled the other it's opposite.

    If anyone know the difference in the terms (if there is a difference) maybe they could post examples of each.

  • 14 years ago

    When I saw the pic of Lakeside Prophecy above, I thought of Savoy Cabbage. So, I looked it up in a vegetable catalog to see how it was described.

    The leaves of Savoy Cabbage are usually described as "crinkled". Just what we needed, an additional descriptive term.

  • 14 years ago

    It is time to go back to the vegetable catalog people and educate them on what "Bumpled" is. We need to put a feather in our Hosta Hats. Veggies just aren't as far along on the genetically advanced trail as Hosta are.

    Les

  • 14 years ago

    Quote:
    On that last transmission! Should read,like the look! I can spell OK,just can't type well. Phil

    Oh. well, I thought it had something to do with "walk the walk" or "talk the talk." Why NOT "look the look" cause it means much the same thing.

    And I had noticed the tendency to have sewing terms as well. Only not being a real "blue haired LOL (little ole lady), but totally WHITE HAIRED, and as my DH told me he did the veggied, I do the flowers, I can see how marketing to the lady of the house would get more results with sewing and apple pie.

    But just how does one say in scientific speak, "seersuckering?" I thought when I read Mark Zilis' Hostapedia that I was done reading. Gardening is a many splendored thing.

  • 14 years ago

    Moccasinlanding, would you believe me if I told you the Ojibwe tern for "seersuckering" is Bumpled?

    Les

  • 14 years ago

    Les
    The urban dictionary says the past tense of "bumple" is used to describe the action of sliding down stairs on your bottom. I like your version better! At any rate it's a great sounding word that should obviously be used a lot more.
    Jan

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