Yellow Thread Rohdea Is a Rare Perennial Jewel for Shady Nooks and Crannies

While some may be familiar with Japanese sacred lily (Rohdea japonica, Zones 6–10), Rohdea pachynema is an uncommon species that is indeed a Rohdea less traveled. Found only in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, it is an intriguing member of the Asparagaceae family that is slowly becoming more available to gardeners. It was formerly known as Campylandra sinensis or C. pachynema, but recent DNA work has moved it into the genus Rohdea, whose name commemorates German botanist Michael Rohde. We can find no documented common name for this species, so we have dubbed it “yellow thread rohdea” since pachynema means “thick thread” (referring to the colored central stripe on
the leaves). 

We suspect that most if not all of the plants of yellow thread rohdea in cultivation are derived from the same population on the flanks of Sichuan’s Luoji Mountain. Bill McNamara of Quarryhill Botanical Garden (now Sonoma Botanical Garden) in California was likely the first to introduce this species to North America. During a visit to Quarryhill some years ago, we were instantly smitten upon seeing Bill’s collection of this beautiful and unfamiliar plant. Our shameless begging worked, and we were gifted a piece of this treasure. 

Later, we avidly read Bill’s account of his botanical expedition to Luoji Mountain
and then made our own visit to that same 14,300-foot peak. It was like coming across an old friend along the trail when we saw yellow thread rohdea growing among culms of bamboo. Other collectors have been to the same mountain on the same trail and undoubtedly availed themselves of this impossible-to-miss colony.

Yellow thread rohdea has durable, darkly evergreen, narrow leaves reaching
18 inches long or more that gently arch and